Department for Transport

A12: Suffolk

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of re-trunking the A12 north of Ipswich.

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of improving roads in Suffolk to support the proposed increase in energy infrastructure.

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department will take to ensure that infrastructure is provided and maintained to support the construction of the Sizewell C Nuclear Power Station in Suffolk.

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of a Four Villages Bypass on the A12 around Marlesford, Stratford St Andrew, Farnham and Little Glemham in Suffolk to reduce the impact of HGV vehicle movements on the villages whilst the construction of Sizewell C is in progress.

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department will take to reduce congestion on the A12 north of Ipswich and in surrounding villages as a result of traffic movements relating to the construction of the Sizewell C Nuclear Power Station.

Trudy Harrison: The A12 north of Ipswich is the responsibility of Suffolk County Council as the local highway authority. It is for them, working with Transport East as the relevant sub-national transport body, to consider the opportunities and options for enhancing the A12 and other transport provision in this area to meet the demands of local people, businesses and energy infrastructure. The Suffolk Energy Gateway Project proposed by Suffolk in 2016 (also known as the Four Villages Bypass) did not provide sufficient value for money and the level of investment from industry and the Council was too low to secure government funding. It is for Suffolk, working with Transport East, to develop a revised proposal and bid again when the opportunity arises, but this would have to represent better value for money and include a larger financial contribution from the Council and industry stakeholders. The examination of the application for development consent for the proposed Sizewell C nuclear power station closed on 14 October 2021 and the Examining Authority is now writing its report which will set out its conclusions and recommendations on the proposals. The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is due to receive the Examining Authority’s report by 14 January 2022. As is the case for all applications for development consent, the Secretary of State for BEIS will consider all matters that are relevant when taking his decision on the project. This includes an assessment of potential impacts on roads during construction and operation and where necessary the applicant will need to provide mitigation measures which may include road improvements. Given the quasi-judicial role of the Secretary of State for BEIS in determining the application, it would be inappropriate to comment on specific matters regarding the proposed project, as this could be seen as prejudicing the decision-making process. The Department and National Highways is examining the case for retrunking the A12 between Ipswich and Lowestoft with Suffolk County Council and Transport East as part of a wider strategic review of the road. Evidence gathered through this review will inform ministerial decisions about whether to progress work further.

Buses: Driving

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to tackle DVLA licence delays for bus operators that are training new drivers.

Trudy Harrison: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is currently prioritising applications for vocational driving licences and has moved additional staff into this area. Applications for provisional vocational licences are being processed within the normal turnaround time of five working days, reduced from ten.

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to reintroduce the requirement to wear face masks on public transport.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The success of the vaccination programme meant that at Step 4 of the Roadmap we were able to move away from legal restrictions. However, Government guidance sets out that members of the public should wear face coverings in crowded and enclosed areas where they come into contact with people they do not normally meet.

Hammersmith Bridge

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether a recent assessment has been made of the impact of the Hammersmith bridge closure on air quality in (a) Wandsworth Borough, (b) Richmond Borough, (c) Hammersmith & Fulham Borough and (d) Hounslow Borough.

Trudy Harrison: As Hammersmith Bridge is owned by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF), the Department for Transport has not undertaken any assessments of the impact on air quality due to the closure of the bridge or its impact on local authorities. This assessment will form part of the business case being developed by LBHF for the repairs to the bridge.

Hammersmith Bridge

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress he has made on securing the reopening of Hammersmith Bridge to vehicles.

Trudy Harrison: Hammersmith Bridge is owned by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) and therefore responsibility for reopening the bridge to motor vehicles and making decisions on its repair lies with the borough.

Hammersmith Bridge

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he or Baroness Vere plans to visit Hammersmith Bridge in the next six months.

Trudy Harrison: My Noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport Baroness Vere of Norbiton, visited Hammersmith Bridge at the invitation of London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham when the bridge reopened to pedestrians, cyclists and river traffic on 17 July 2021. Any invitations issued by the borough for a Ministerial visit to the bridge will be given due consideration.

Driving Tests: Countryside

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will review the provision of countryside safety in driving theory tests in response to the recent increase in livestock deaths on roads.

Trudy Harrison: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) keep the content of the theory test under regular review to ensure that it reflects changing real-world conditions and hazards that new drivers need to be aware of. The DVSA consult with stakeholders such as the British Horse Society in developing the test.The theory test includes a hazard perception test (HPT), where candidates must respond appropriately to developing hazards, such as livestock and wild animals crossing the road. The CGI version of the hazard perception test was introduced in 2015, in response to the need to create more varied hazards that could not be replicated easily by filming hazards. Since 2015, the number of clips depicting animal hazards has been increased, meaning that every candidate who takes the test is presented with at least one animal hazard to respond to.The theory test also includes a multiple-choice test where candidates must demonstrate their knowledge of the Highway Code. These tests candidates’ knowledge of road signs, road markings and hazards that are relevant to rural driving, such as the increased likelihood of encountering animals, farm vehicles and vulnerable road users like horse riders and cyclists, and how to safely approach and navigate these hazards.

Driving Licences

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the delays in the renewal of driving licences (a) for people with long term health conditions who need to renew their licence regularly and (b) in general.

Trudy Harrison: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s online services are the quickest and easiest way to renew a driving licence. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their driving licence within a few days. However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application for a driving licence. The latest information on turnaround times for paper driving licence applications can be found here. The DVLA has accelerated the development of additional online services to reduce the number of paper applications and supported their take up through a publicity campaign. Further digital service enhancements are underway. The time taken to issue a licence to drivers with a medical condition will vary depending on the medical condition involved and any further information that may be needed from third parties. Industrial action by the Public and Commercial Services union specifically targeted at the area that deals with applications from drivers with a medical condition has also contributed to delays. The DVLA is working with the relevant NHS bodies to explore ways of reducing the time taken to receive the information needed to make licensing decisions. The DVLA has also recently trialled a simplified renewal process for some medical conditions and this is helping to reduce the turnaround times for some drivers. To improve the length of time taken to process medical licensing applications, the DVLA has recruited additional administrative and medical staff. The DVLA is urgently securing extra office space to house more staff to help reduce waiting times while providing future resilience and business continuity.

Bus Gates

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase public awareness of bus gates; and whether future editions of the Highway Code will include bus gates.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that bus gates are clearly marked for drivers so that they understand what steps they need to take to avoid entering one.

Trudy Harrison: Rule 141 of the Highway Code informs drivers of the restrictions on bus lanes, and page 32 of ‘Know Your Traffic Signs’, the Department’s companion to the Highway Code, provides information on signs and markings that give orders associated with bus-only access.  It is the responsibility of local authorities to ensure that bus gates are clearly signed, in order for drivers to understand the steps needed to avoid entering them.

Bus Services

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he taking to help improve local bus services in England.

Trudy Harrison: In March the Government published England’s long-term National Bus Strategy, setting out its plans to deliver better bus services across the country. At the Budget we announced that there will be £1.2 billion of new dedicated funding for bus transformation deals to deliver services, fares and infrastructure improvements.

Shipping: Crew

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraphs 2.175 to 2.177 of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 HC822, what assessment he has made of the impact of the planned reforms to the tonnage tax scheme on seafarer ratings in the UK.

Robert Courts: These reforms offer significant opportunity for economic growth, creating new maritime jobs across the UK. The Department will work closely with the maritime sector to maximise opportunities for UK seafarer cadets and ratings, which will be significantly improved by attracting more shipping firms into UK tonnage tax.

Electric Vehicles

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to ensure the uptake of electric cars and vans is in line with the Climate Change Committee’s recommendations.

Trudy Harrison: Government is going further and faster to decarbonise transport by phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, and, from 2035, all new cars and vans must be zero emissions at the tailpipe. As recommended by the Committee for Climate Change, and in order to deliver these phases out dates, Government announced in the Net Zero Strategy that it will introduce a zero emission vehicle mandate, setting targets for a percentage of manufacturers' new car and van sales to be zero emission each year from 2024. Government grants for plug in vehicles continue to be available to help reduce the up-front purchase price of electric cars, vans, trucks, motorbikes and taxis. There are also grants available to support the installation of chargepoints at homes, workplaces, on residential streets and along motorways and major A roads. Building on the £1.9bn from Spending Review 2020, the Government has recently committed an additional £620m to support the transition to electric vehicles. The additional funding will support the rollout of charging infrastructure, with a particular focus on local on street residential charging, and targeted plug-in vehicle grants.

Civil Aviation Authority: Environment Protection

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what role he plans for local community representatives to have on the civil aviation authority's new environmental panel.

Robert Courts: Following the closure of the Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise (ICCAN), my Department is working with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), for it to take on the majority of ICCAN's former functions. To help deliver these functions the CAA will be establishing a new environment panel that will provide it with independent expert guidance to support its environmental roles, including the consideration of carbon, air quality, as well as aviation noise. The CAA is currently undertaking work to define both the purpose and remit of the environmental panel, before recruiting a diverse membership. The panel is expected to be operational from April 2022.

Aviation: Forecasts

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to update its 2017 UK aviation forecasts.

Robert Courts: Over the last two years, the Department has been undertaking an extensive model development programme, engaging with industry on several occasions, to both improve and update various elements of the model. This model development is ongoing and an updated version will be used for the next set of published long term forecasts. We will look to publish new long term aviation forecasts in due course. However, this is a period of great uncertainty and we need to observe a more settled recovery before we can begin to reflect this in any future forecasts.

Tolls

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has discussed with the Chancellor of the Exchequer any plans to introduce a system of road charging.

Trudy Harrison: My Right Honourable friend, the Secretary of State, has not had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer regarding a system of road charging. At present, the decision to implement road charging in towns and cities is one for the relevant Highways Authority.

Aviation: Renewable Fuels

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to encourage investment in e-kerosene for aviation.

Robert Courts: Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), such as e-kerosene, is a vital tool for decarbonising aviation and helping the UK reach our net zero goals by 2050. We already provide strong support to the sector through the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) and our low carbon fuel industry competitions. To build on this, as part of the Prime Minister's 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, the Government announced £15m for the Green Fuels, Green Skies SAF industry competition, £3m to set up a SAF clearing house, and an intention to consult on a blending mandate to drive SAF uptake in the UK. This consultation ran over the summer and last week the Net Zero Strategy confirmed our ambition to see 10% SAF blended into the UK fuel mix by 2030. We also announced £180m of new funding to support the UK SAF industry and accelerate the development of UK plants. At the recent Global Investment Summit, the Prime Minister and Bill Gates announced a £400m partnership between Breakthrough Energy Catalyst and the UK Government to drive investment into the next generation of green technologies. The partnership aims to attract private sector investment in the UK, focusing on four key green technology areas: hydrogen, long term energy storage, sustainable aviation fuels and direct air capture.

Railways

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the core goals set out in Great British Railways, published in May 2021, what steps he plans to take to change the culture of railways.

Chris Heaton-Harris: As set out in the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, published May 2021, a new rail body, Great British Railways (GBR), will be established, absorbing the current infrastructure owner, Network Rail. GBR will be a new organisation with a commercial mindset and strong customer focus. It will have a different culture to Network Rail and very different financial incentives from the beginning. For example, new Passenger Service Contracts to run trains will be based on strong incentives for private operators to run high-quality and punctual services for passengers, moving away from the current franchising model.

Chester Station

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to include Chester Station in the Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Having reviewed an initial proposal from Cheshire West and Chester Council last year, the Department continues to work closely with the Council, Transport for Wales and Network Rail to develop a Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for potential enhancements at Chester Station.

Cycleways

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to increase funding for cycle lanes in city centres.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Government is committed to spending an additional £2 billion on cycling and walking schemes over this Parliament, and the bulk of this will go towards new infrastructure such as cycle lanes in city centres. The Spending Review on 27 October has provided an unprecedented multi-year funding settlement for active travel including £710 million of new funding which will enable those local authorities who wish to do so to deliver transformational changes in their areas. Further details will be set out in the second statutory Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS 2) in the spring of 2022.

Transport: Tyne and Wear

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding he plans to allocate to support improvements in the transport network in Tyne and Wear.

Chris Heaton-Harris: We’ve already announced major reforms to transport that will benefit areas across the whole country, supporting cities and communities to fulfil their potential and improve pride of place. The government is delivering major investment in flagship transport infrastructure which seeks to support our plans to Build Back Better, building upon the significant commitments we have already made to the North East so far, including the £198m from the Transforming Cities Fund for local transport improvements. As the Chancellor announced this week, Nexus are set to receive £210m of funding for new trains over the Spending Review period, to improve journeys for passengers. The North East will also be eligible for the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements once appropriate governance is in place. The Government is ready to work with the North East Combined Authorities and local authorities to deliver a new devolution deal that will unlock CRSTS funding. In the meantime, the existing commitments on the Transforming Cities Fund and core local authority transport funding continue to be met.

Travel Restrictions: Dominican Republic

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason the Dominican Republic remains on the red travel list.

Robert Courts: The Dominican Republic was removed from the red list on Monday 1 November. There are no countries or territories currently on the UK’s red list. However, the data for all countries and territories will be kept under regular review and the red list will continue to operate as the UK’s first defence to prevent incoming variants of concern from entering the UK from international travel.

Shipping: Employment

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many UK domiciled (a) ratings and (b) officers were employed on tonnage tax qualifying vessels on the UK Ship Register in each year between 2001-02 and 2020-21.

Robert Courts: This Department does not hold figures relating to UK domicile. However the companies within Tonnage Tax are required to submit figures based on nationality as part of their Core Training Commitment. The figures for UK nationality on UK vessels within Tonnage Tax as reported to the Department are as follows: Officers YearUK Flag onlyBritish2000/01*† 2001/02*† 2002/03*† 2003/04*2,3372004/05*2,4352005/062,3422006/072,3802007/082,4382008/092,3672009/102,2012010/112,0782011/121,8692012/131,8352013/141,5832014/15‡1,5812015/161,5372016/171,4792017/181,0982018/191,3052019/201,0962020/211,112 RatingsYearUK Flag onlyBritish2000/01*† 2001/02*† 2002/03*† 2003/04*1,5902004/05*1,6042005/061,3562006/071,8032007/082,0092008/091,9552009/101,8542010/111,8862011/121,6462012/131,6632013/141,5482014/15‡1,5762015/161,5862016/171,5382017/181,1322018/191,3042019/201,0622020/211,025Information for UK Flag only is not available for the years 2000/01, 2001/02 and 2002/03

Shipping: Employment

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many UK domiciled (a) ratings and (b) officers were employed on tonnage tax qualifying vessels registered outside the Red Ensign Group in each year between 2001-02 and 2020-21.

Robert Courts: The Department does not maintain records relating to UK domicile. Nor does it maintain specific flag state seafarer employment data other than distinguishing between those employed on UK Flagged ships and all others. The number of UK nationals employed on non-UK flagged vessels is however reported by companies within UK Tonnage Tax and the figures based on those reports are as follows:OfficersYear British on non-UK flagged2000/01*†9112001/02*†3,2152002/03*†2,9462003/04*6142004/05*5762005/066222006/077442007/088272008/099762009/109732010/117592011/128222012/139142013/148812014/15‡8592015/166922016/176742017/186482018/197612019/209412020/21801 RatingsYear British on non-UK flagged2000/01*†4552001/02*†1,6852002/03*†1,9992003/04*1882004/05*1612005/061652006/071242007/081722008/092802009/103262010/112452011/122512012/133132013/143352014/15‡3232015/162152016/171642017/181412018/191742019/203792020/21318Information for UK Flag only is not available for the years 2000/01, 2001/02 and 2002/03 so those figures are included as part of the whole.

Shipping: Training

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many UK domiciled officer cadets were trained on tonnage tax qualifying vessels in each year between 2014-15 and 2020-21.

Robert Courts: The Department does not typically record this data as it is the total number of training months a company completes that determines whether or not it has met its minimum training obligation under the tonnage tax regime.

Shipping: Training

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many UK domiciled ratings officers were trained on tonnage tax qualifying vessels in (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21.

Robert Courts: The Department does not recognise the terminology ‘UK domiciled ratings officers’ so is unable to provide a direct response to this question.

Railways: Greater Manchester

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) potential role of Restoring Your Railways bids in improving connectivity between areas of higher unemployment to areas of employment growth, and (b) economic impact of improving connectivity between Denton, Reddish and (i) Ashton Moss strategic employment site, (ii) the Stockport town centre mayoral development corporation, (iii) the Manchester regional centre and (iv) Manchester international airport and Airport City strategic employment site.

Chris Heaton-Harris: I would like to congratulate the Hon Member on his successful bid to the Restoring Your Railway Ideas Fund for restoring passenger services on the rail line from Ashton-under-Lyne to Stockport. The Department has not made a detailed assessment of the economic impacts of improving connectivity in the area at this stage, though I look forward to working with Transport for Greater Manchester to explore these issues as they develop the case further.

Public Transport: Protective Clothing

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will provide guidance on his Department's policy on public transport workers removing face coverings for communication purposes.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Face coverings are no longer mandated on public transport; however staff and passengers may choose to continue to wear them to protect themselves and those around them. Our safer transport guidance asks operators to consider the needs of disabled passengers and the Department has worked with Transport for All to publish guidance to bus and rail operators to ensure transport workers are better equipped to assist Deaf, disabled and older passengers.

Bristol-Portishead Railway Line

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Written Statement, Planning Update, published on 19 October 2021, HCWS333, if he will provide more information on the environmental matters under consideration.

Robert Courts: The reasons for the extension are as set out in the Written Ministerial Statement. As this is a live planning application, it would not be appropriate for me to comment further. Should any further information be required from any party, a letter will be issued and published on the relevant project page of the Planning Inspectorate's website. I want to assure you that we are progressing this application as quickly as possible.

Travel Restrictions: Ecuador

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to remove Ecuador from the covid-19 travel red list.

Robert Courts: Ecuador was removed from the red list on Monday 1 November. There are no countries or territories currently on the UK’s red list. However, the data for all countries and territories will be kept under regular review and the red list will continue to operate as the UK’s first defence to prevent incoming variants of concern from entering the UK from international travel.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Small Businesses: Training

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2021 to Question 21917 on Small Businesses: Advisory Services, what the (a) national and (b) regional breakdown is of people who have completed the Small Business Leadership Programme.

Paul Scully: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Small Businesses: Training

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of  July 2021 to Question 21917 on Small Businesses: Advisory Services, how many (a) women, (b) men, and (c) BAME people have completed the Small Business Leadership Programme.

Paul Scully: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Business: Evictions

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Government’s press release on 16 June 2021 entitled Eviction protection extended for businesses most in need, what plans the Government for a binding arbitration process between commercial tenants and landlords.

Paul Scully: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coal

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he made of the implications for his policies of the International Energy Agency's findings that coal should be kept in the ground.

Greg Hands: The Government has committed to phasing out unabated coal generation in Great Britain by October 2024. Coal’s share of our electricity supply has already declined significantly in recent years – from almost 40% in 2012 to less than 2% in 2020.

Migrant Workers: Large Goods Vehicle Drivers

David Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many and what proportion of applications received for endorsement letters under the HGV fuel tanker driver concession have been issued with endorsement letters.

Greg Hands: Hauliers within the fuel sector, and those companies that employ transporters of road fuels, were required to identify to BEIS non-visa nationals who were fully licenced and qualified drivers available to start immediately within the fuel haulage sector. The sector applied for nine endorsement letters from BEIS and all nine were provided. The UK Government is working with the haulage sector to promote jobs, training and a range of other initiatives to get more people into HGV driving.

Carbon Emissions: Finance

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the level of private finance which will be unlocked as a result of the net zero strategy.

Greg Hands: The Net Zero Strategy outlines measures to transition to a green and sustainable future, helping businesses and consumers to move to clean power, supporting hundreds of thousands of well-paid jobs and leveraging up to £90 billion of private investment by 2030. The UK is a world leading financial hub, with access to global capital pools, outstanding professional services, and a robust legal and regulatory framework. As such, the UK financial services industry is poised to enable private capital to flow into our net zero investment needs. For example, targeted public intervention via the British Business Bank (BBB), UK Export Finance and the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) will pull through investment from the private sector.

Carbon Emissions: Electronic Government

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason the document, Net Zero: principles for successful behaviour change initiatives, produced by the behavioural insights team and published alongside his Department's Net Zero Strategy was removed from the Government website.

Greg Hands: This paper was uploaded in error.

Heat Pumps: Investment

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the investment in heat pumps announced in the Heat and buildings strategy, published on 19 October 2021, for meeting the Government's aim for 600,000 installations a year by 2028.

Greg Hands: As set out in the Heat and Buildings Strategy, a range of policies will be needed to ensure the heat pump market supports 600,000 installations per year by 2028. Key measures within this package include the £450 million Boiler Upgrade Scheme, the Future Homes Standard and Future Buildings Standards which will drive low carbon heating in new buildings; a new market-based incentive for heating system manufacturers to be introduced from 2024; and consulting on measures to phase out new installations of fossil fuel heating in areas located off the gas grid from the mid-2020s. Support for heat pump installation will also be available through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and Home Upgrade Grant schemes. The package combines targeted funding to kickstart market growth with incentives and regulations to provide long-term policy clarity for industry that will rapidly drive down costs and increase deployment in line with Government’s stated ambitions.

Hydrogen: Investment

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the sufficiency of the Government's investment in hydrogen for the UK to become a world-leader in that field.

Greg Hands: The Government has set out a clear plan to decarbonise our power grid and will continue to build a robust domestic renewable energy sector so that the UK is not as exposed to global trends in natural gas supply and demand. Competition is the most effective and sustainable way to keep prices low for all consumers. Throughout the transition to net zero, consumers should pay a fair, affordable price for their energy. As the net zero strategy sets out, this will be a key aim when making reforms to the energy retail market.

Energy Supply: Prices

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government plans to take to help ensure (a) stable and (b) affordable energy prices over future years.

Greg Hands: The Government has set out a clear plan to decarbonise our power grid and will continue to build a robust domestic renewable energy sector so that the UK is not as exposed to global trends in natural gas supply and demand. Competition is the most effective and sustainable way to keep prices low for all consumers. Throughout the transition to net zero, consumers should pay a fair, affordable price for their energy. As the net zero strategy sets out, this will be a key aim when making reforms to the energy retail market.

Carbon Emissions: Employment

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs that will be affected by the transition to net zero; and what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that affected staff are (a) supported into new green jobs and (b) offered opportunities to retrain in green industries.

Greg Hands: Through our Net Zero Strategy we will grow green industries and supply chains in the UK, supporting up to 440,000 jobs across net zero industries in 2030. The Strategy sets out how we are supporting skills and retraining for the green economy, including reforming the skills system; delivering green Skills Bootcamps; and working with industry to support green apprenticeships.

Green Homes Grant Scheme: Enfield North

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Green Homes Grant Scheme applications his Department has received from people living in Enfield North since August 2020.

Greg Hands: Official scheme statistics published on the 21st October 2021 for the Green Homes Grant Voucher scheme describe the status of applications prior to 7th October 2021, including statistics for the Enfield North constituency. The next statistical release is expected on 18 November 2021.

Green Homes Grant Scheme: Enfield North

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Green Homes Grant Schemes his Department has approved in Enfield North constituency since August 2020.

Greg Hands: Official scheme statistics published on the 21st October 2021 for the Green Homes Grant Voucher scheme describe the status of applications prior to 7th October 2021, including statistics for the Enfield North constituency. The next statistical release is expected on 18 November 2021.

Energy Supply and Insulation: Enfield North

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps he has taken to (a) support low-income families with energy bills, (b) deliver low-carbon energy schemes and (c) insulate homes in Enfield North constituency.

Greg Hands: The energy price cap will save 15 million households up to £100 on their energy bills this winter. The Government supports low-income and fuel poor households with their energy bills through the Warm Home Discount, Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments. The landmark Heat and Buildings Strategy sets out how the Government will decarbonise homes across the country, making them warmer, more efficient and cheaper for families to run.

Social Rented Housing: Carbon Emissions

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps he has taken to provide resources to Enfield Council to help deliver low carbon heating and net zero goals as part of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.

Greg Hands: The 2020 Summer Economic Update announced the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator project, launched in 2020, which has awarded £61 million to 18 local authorities to test innovative approaches to retrofitting at scale, covering over 2,100 social homes in England and Scotland. The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham was awarded £9.6 million to retrofit an estimated 230 homes in London, delivering as part of a consortium, of which the London Borough of Enfield is a member. The project looks to improve the energy performance of homes by installing external wall insultation, having oil and gas heating in homes replaced with air-source heat pumps and installing solar panels.

Mass Media: Energy Supply

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the impact on the sustainability of print media businesses as a result of rising energy costs for the energy-intensive paper and print industries.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to introduce support for the paper and print industries as result of rising energy prices to ensure the sustainability of print media businesses including magazine and specialist publishers.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the impact of rising energy costs for energy-intensive paper and print industries, and resultant costs for businesses supplied by those industries, on the sustainability of print media businesses.

Lee Rowley: The Department continues to engage constructively with energy intensive industries to further understand and to assess the possibility of offering help to mitigate the impacts of high global gas prices. Our priority is to ensure that costs are managed and that supplies of energy are maintained.

Buildings: Heating

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason Modern Methods of Construction are not included in the Building and Heat strategy.

Greg Hands: The Heat and Buildings Strategy is focussed on emissions from energy use within buildings. Emissions from heat used for industrial processes, and emissions from construction are out of scope for the Heat and Buildings Strategy.

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure all claimants of the Warm Home Discount who have been forced to reapply as a result of their energy provider ceasing trading in recent months are not excluded from that support by their new provider.

Greg Hands: When an energy supplier leaves the market, Ofgem appoints a Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) to take over its customers. SoLRs are not obliged to provide the Warm Home Discount to transferred customers; however, all SoLRs have honoured this obligation in the past and we would expect that SoLRs continue to honour these obligations. The Government recently concluded a consultation on the future scheme, which included a proposal to reform the scheme. Under the proposals, the vast majority of households would receive their rebates automatically, without having to apply. This would make it easier for SoLRs to make the Warm Home Discount rebate payments to newly transferred customers. BEIS will be publishing the Government’s response to the consultation in the coming months, with the reforms coming into force from the 2022/23 scheme year.

Heating

Richard Thomson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to publish the Buildings and Heat Strategy.

Greg Hands: The Heat and Buildings Strategy was published on 19th October.

Woodhouse Colliery

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the new Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the proposed Whitehaven coal mine.

Greg Hands: Planning is a quasi-judicial process, and solely a matter for my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Ministers in BEIS have had no discussions with him on the proposed mine at Whitehaven.

Liquefied Natural Gas: Shortages

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of potential shortages of liquefied gas over winter 2021-22; and what discussions he has had with suppliers, retailers and industrial users on those potential shortages.

Greg Hands: The Government remains confident that Great Britain’s energy security will be maintained thanks to the diversity of our supply sources and the existing market mechanism. The Government works closely with Ofgem, National Grid Gas and other key industry organisations to monitor gas supply and demand. LNG trade flows are determined by commercial agreements between buyers and sellers and price signals. Great Britain has one of the largest LNG import infrastructures in Europe and the GB gas market is one of the most liquid in the world, providing security through diversity of supply. National Grid’s Gas Winter Outlook, which models supply and demand for upcoming winter, notes in its security of supply test that the supply margin is expected to be more than sufficient.

Iron and Steel: Hydrogen

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential to use hydrogen in the production of steel.

Lee Rowley: The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy commits the Government to work with the Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’. Hydrogen-based steelmaking, Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), and electrification are some of the technological approaches being examined as part of this process. Published in October, the Net Zero Strategy committed to provide further support for research and innovation to enable the fuel switch to low carbon hydrogen on industrial sites, such as integrated steelworks. This will be delivered through the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio and initiatives led by the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre.

Iron and Steel: Carbon Emissions

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to fund a clean steel demonstrator project.

Lee Rowley: The Government recognises the vital role that the sector plays across the UK to benefit our economy. We will continue to work with the sector to support its decarbonisation. In March 2021, the Government published the Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy in which we committed to working with the Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035 and the business environment necessary to support the transition. We will provide further information in due course. Published in October, the Net Zero Strategy committed to provide further support for research and innovation to enable the fuel switch to low carbon hydrogen on industrial sites, such as integrated steelworks. This will be delivered through the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio and initiatives led by the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Quarantine

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Attorney General, how many of her Department's ministers have been exempted from quarantine in a hotel after returning to the UK from a covid-19 red list country to which they have travelled for the purposes of conducting official business.

Alex Chalk: The Attorney General and Solicitor General have not claimed any exemptions from the requirement to quarantine after returning from a red list country as neither Law Officer has undertaken any official business overseas since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Details of Ministers’ overseas travel are published quarterly on GOV.UK, and all travel is arranged in line with official regulations.

Department of Health and Social Care

Ambulance Services

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of access to (a) social care pathways and (b) GP appointments and primary care on the number of ambulance callouts.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ambulance Services

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to relieve pressure on ambulance workers and to improve working conditions within the ambulance service.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ambulance Services: Staff

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of staffing levels in the ambulance service in (a) London and (b) England; and what steps he is taking to reduce vacancies in that service.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Teignmouth Hospital

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 September 2021 to Question 51707 on Teignmouth Hospital, whether he will make a decision on the future of Teignmouth Hospital before the end of 2021.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the rate of covid-19 infection.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will require face masks to be worn in all indoor venues, including shops and on transport, in response to the high covid-19 infection rates.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what time period is set for covid-19 booster vaccinations appearing on patients' medical records on the NHS App.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Members: Correspondence

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay of 16 July 2021 and chase up correspondence of 13 August 2021, 15 September 2021 and 13 October 2021 regarding a constituent with reference JB33290.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS plans to update NHS Covid Passes to reflect where patients have received a booster covid-19 vaccination.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of when the rate of covid-19 infection levels per 100,000 people in a rolling 7-day period will fall below (a) 400 and (b) 300 cases .

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Nutrition: Regulation

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of recommendation 16, and its sub-recommendations, from the Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform report, published 16 June 2021, in respect of regulation of nutriceuticals.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to provide a substantive response to Question 56714, on the inclusion of the vaccination status of victims of the covid-19 outbreak as part of the statistics broadcast daily, which was due for answer on 20 October.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ambulance Services

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the number of ambulance callouts in 2021 with each of the last five years.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria are used for declaring the NHS as overwhelmed at an unstainable level.

Edward Argar: The Government monitors all the relevant data on a regular basis and will make a judgement based on a range of indicators, informed by advice from the Government’s scientific and clinical experts.

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much spending his Department has recovered for personal protective equipment that was either not delivered or was not fit for purpose, since March 2020.

Edward Argar: This information is not available in the format requested.

Integrated Care Systems: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance he is issuing to Integrated Care Systems on how they distribute their funding across their footprint.

Edward Argar: NHS England will determine how funding will be distributed to integrated care boards (ICBs).The approach will continue to be informed by the independent Advisory Committee on Resource Allocations and the established clinical commissioning group allocation formula.NHS England has recently published supporting information on the management of National Health Service resources by ICBs, which is available at the following link:https://nhsproviders.org/resource-library/briefings/management-of-nhs-resources-by-integrated-care-boards-icbsNHS England will also publish formal guidance to support local NHS planning for 2022-23. ICB allocations are published in full by NHS England alongside guidance and background material. ICB allocations for 2022-23 will be published as part of 2022-23 Operational Planning Guidance.

Ambulance Services: North West

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of category 1 calls received by Morecambe Bay CCG and North Cumbria CCG were responded to within 7 minutes over the last 12 months.

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of category 1 calls received by Morecambe Bay CCG and North Cumbria CCG were responded to within 18 minutes in each of the last 12 months.

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of category 3 calls received by Morecambe Bay CCG and North Cumbria CCG were responded to within 120 minutes in each of the last 12 months.

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of category 4 calls received by Morecambe Bay CCG and North Cumbria CCG were responded to within 180 minutes in each of the last 12 months.

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what Morecambe Bay CCG's average ambulance response time has been for (a) category 1 calls, (b) category 2 calls, (c) category 3 calls and (d) category 4 calls in each of the last 12 months.

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what North Cumbria CCG's average ambulance response time is over the last 12 months for (a) category 1 calls, (b) category 2 calls, (c) category 3 calls and (d) category 4 calls.

Edward Argar: The information requested is not held centrally.

Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to dedicate funding and resource to the research and treatment of Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections.

Gillian Keegan: The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has advised that no research into paediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS) is currently being funded through its coordinating centres. However, the NIHR welcomes funding applications from patients, carers, clinicians, healthcare workers, service managers and researchers for research into any aspect of human health. Although it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions, applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. Assessment, investigation, diagnostic formulation and treatment of children with this condition requires the involvement of multidisciplinary teams, including paediatric specialists and children’s mental health teams with the relevant expertise. Training on PANDAS is included in the Royal College of Paediatric and Child Health’s curriculum.

Integrated Care Systems: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department plans to allocate funding to Integrated Care Systems; and whether he plans to introduce a new funding formula to support that allocation.

Edward Argar: Through NHS England, future allocations to integrated care boards (ICBs) will be based on supporting equal opportunity of access, contributing to the reduction of health inequalities and how quickly ICBs can move towards their target allocations.Our approach will continue to be informed by the independent Advisory Committee on Resource Allocations and the established clinical commissioning group allocation formula.

Social Services: South East

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of (a) the impact and (b) adequacy of the availability of care sector staff on the quality of care for residents in (i) Slough and (ii) the South East.

Gillian Keegan: No specific assessment has been made. The quality of care, including in relation to staffing, is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). To comply with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, service providers must deploy enough qualified, competent, skilled and experienced staff to ensure they are able to meet all CQC regulatory requirements and their service users’ needs at all times.

Members: Correspondence

Robert Largan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the enquiry from the hon. Member for High Peak of 29 June 2021, reference RL24040.

Edward Argar: We replied to the hon. Member on 28 October 2021.

Dyslexia: Diagnosis

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has any plans for the NHS to provide dyslexia diagnosis services.

Gillian Keegan: We have no plans to do so. Assessments are currently provided through Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) services by an educational psychologist or an appropriately qualified specialist dyslexia teacher. We are currently reviewing the provision of SEND services, including those for dyslexia, to ensure that needs can be identified as early as possible.

Dementia

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) staffing and (b) budget has been allocated to work on dementia within his Department.

Gillian Keegan: The information is not held in the format requested. Work on dementia involves staffing and budgets across multiple teams within the Department, including those focused on dementia policy, research and prevention, as well as social care reform.

Members: Correspondence

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the correspondence dated 4 August 2021 from the Hon. Member for Enfield North on Medicus Health Partners, a partnership of GP surgeries operating in Enfield, reference FC9166.

Edward Argar: We replied to the hon. Member on 25 October 2021.

Social Services

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will set out a timeframe for publishing a 2021-22 winter plan for social care.

Gillian Keegan: The Adult Social Care: Winter plan 2021 to 2022 will be published shortly.

Health and Social Care Levy

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much and what proportion of the Government's planned rise in National Insurance he plans to spend on reducing NHS waiting lists.

Edward Argar: The Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022-23 to 2024-25 to tackle elective waiting lists. We are working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement to develop a plan for how that funding will be used and we will publish a delivery plan for elective recovery later this year.

Fractures

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking with the NHS to improve prevention of falls and fractures, particularly for people with osteoporosis.

Gillian Keegan: NHS England and NHS Improvement’s Best MSK Health Collaborative Pathway Improvement Programme issued a high impact restoration strategy, which includes a recommendation for systems to optimise secondary prevention of fragility fractures by ensuring equitable provision of and access to, quality assured fracture liaison services.The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) are leading a programme to promote reconditioning and improve prevention of falls and fractures. This includes raising awareness and promoting the Chief Medical Officer’s strength and balance exercise guidelines with members of the National Falls Prevention Coordination Group, chaired by NHS England and NHS Improvement.

Elective Recovery Fund

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the Trusts that have met the criteria for the Elective Recovery Fund.

Edward Argar: The Elective Recovery Fund is operated and measured by NHS England at an integrated care system level and funding is earned by systems which have met the criteria, rather than individual trusts. All systems have met the criteria for the Elective Recovery Fund in at least one month so far in 2021-22.

Social Services

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he is having with the social care sector on (a) staffing levels, (b) funding and (c) impacts of covid-19 as part of a winter plan for social care.

Gillian Keegan: The Adult Social Care: Winter Plan 2021 to 2022 will be published shortly and draws on the recommendations of the stakeholder-led review of last year’s Winter Plan. We hold weekly discussions with adult social care employers, representative organisations and local authorities about issues affecting the sector, including staffing levels, funding and wider impacts of COVID-19.We are investing over £550 million until 31 March 2022 to support the implementation of measures to support the adult social care sector in the Winter Plan. This includes a £388.3 million extension to the Infection Control and Testing Fund and £162.5 million through the new Workforce Recruitment and Retention Fund. This brings specific funding for adult social care to more than £2.5 billion during the pandemic.

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many of his Department's contracts for personal protective equipment are still to be uploaded to contract finder; what the value is of those contracts; whether those contracts were subject to competitive tendering; and when the remaining contracts will be published.

Edward Argar: All contracts notices and associated contracts awarded by the Department for the supply of personal protective equipment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are now available at the Contracts Finder service.Regulation 32(2)(c) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 allows for the direct award of a contract without advertising in cases of “extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority”. The majority of COVID-19 related contracts were awarded using Regulation 32(2)(c) with the remainder using other procedures under the 2015 Regulations which allow for a direct award without tendering such as call-offs from pre-tendered framework contracts.

Social Services: Private Sector

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he will take with the HMRC and the Pensions Regulator to alert the CQC of the financial liabilities of private providers when wage payments or pension contributions are not honoured by private care providers.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the process by which information is shared between the CQC, the Pensions Regulator, HMRC and HSE in the event that concerns about the financial or operational matters of private care providers are raised with one or more of those regulatory authorities.

Gillian Keegan: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) Market Oversight Scheme, set up under the Care Act 2014, assesses the financial sustainability of potentially difficult to replace adult social care providers. Where a significant risk to financial sustainability is identified, the CQC’s Market Oversight team may approach HM Revenue and Customs and the Pensions Regulator to obtain and assess third party assurance and to understand actions available to those regulators; these would likely relate to arrears for taxes and pensions contributions. When the CQC receives information of concern, it will assess the information, consider next steps and if appropriate, share with other third parties. The CQC and the Health and Safety Executive have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding, with the support of the Local Government Association, to share relevant intelligence and enforcement data. The CQC would share relevant information with local authorities. Providers are also obliged to notify the CQC of any disruption in delivering regulated activity. For providers outside the scope of the Market Oversight Scheme applying for registration or re-registration, the CQC considers any issues identified regarding the past non-payment of wages or pensions, with any other relevant regulatory history of the applicant. However, the payment of wages and pensions is principally a matter between an employer and its employees.

Department of Health and Social Care: Staff

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many civil servants were employed in his Department to work on (a) dementia, (b) heart disease and (c) cancer in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2015.

Edward Argar: The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Surgical Mesh Implants

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the forthcoming Women’s Health Strategy will include provision to support women experiencing ongoing harm due to the use of surgical mesh.

Maria Caulfield: We are currently analysing the responses to the call for evidence, which was launched as part of the new Women’s Health Strategy for England. This will inform the priorities, content and actions of the Strategy, ensure it is evidence-based and reflects what women identify as priorities.Women who have been adversely affected by implanted mesh may access comprehensive treatment, care and advice at the eight specialist mesh centres in operation across England.

Genito-urinary Medicine: Diagnosis

Alex Davies-Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to (a) increase capacity for outpatient diagnostic services for menstrual and reproductive health conditions and (b) introduce women’s health hubs to improve access to those services.

Maria Caulfield: There are no current plans to do so. The provision of local health services available to patients, including women’s health hubs, is a matter for clinical commissioning groups, which have a statutory responsibility to commission healthcare services that meet the needs of their whole population.

Oak Processionary Moth: Health Hazards

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that primary care health practitioners are aware of the (a) symptoms of and (b) treatment for touching oak processionary moth caterpillars and nests in areas experiencing infestations.

Maria Caulfield: Local health protection teams provide proactive advice and warnings for oak processionary moths and have promoted awareness among health professionals in areas with known infestations. People who come into contact with the caterpillars are directed to see a pharmacist for relief from milder skin or eye irritations following possible contact or consult a general practitioner or NHS 111 for more serious reactions.

Pharmacy: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that community pharmacy services are being funded for their support to general practice.

Maria Caulfield: The Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) 2019-24 commits £2.592 billion to better integrate community pharmacy in the National Health Service, provide more clinical services, treatment for minor illness and health advice. Under the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service, NHS 111 can refer patients to community pharmacies for advice and treatment of minor illnesses. Additionally, NHS 111 can refer for an urgent supply of regularly prescribed medicines. Funding for these services is included in the CPCF.

Medical Records: Gender

Mark Jenkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he will take to ensure the recording of biological sex on medical records to ensure that appropriate sex-related care is offered.

Maria Caulfield: National Health Service datasets include a field entitled 'Patient Stated Gender Code' with four options: male, female, indeterminate (unable to be classified as either male or female) and not known. This field collects information on sex for those whose gender is the same as their sex registered at birth. Details on sex for trans people and those who are intersex or who have disorders of sexual development should be recorded within their clinical notes to ensure safe and appropriate care.The General Medical Council provides guidance on keeping clear, accurate and legible records. All patients should be given the care they need and treated with respect and dignity, in accordance with the values of the NHS. Investigations or treatment must be based on the assessment the clinician and their patient make of their needs and priorities and the clinician’s clinical judgement about the likely effectiveness of the options.

Pharmacy

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to use community pharmacists to provide additional community health services to take pressure off GP practices.

Maria Caulfield: There are currently no plans for community pharmacies to provide additional community health services nationally. However, community health services can be commissioned from pharmacies locally if the need exists. The Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 2019-24 set out the vision for community pharmacy to be better integrated and deliver more clinical services such as health advice and treatment for minor illnesses.

Bowel Cancer: Screening

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care,  whether NHS England and NHS Improvement have concluded their detailed modelling assessment of endoscopy capacity and demand within the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England and NHS Improvement have concluded their modelling and data has been shared with regional commissioners and providers of the National Health Service Bowel Cancer Screening Programme for planning services appropriately and to maximise delivery.NHS England and NHS Improvement have established a number of workstreams to increase diagnostic capacity, including investment of £150 million in new imaging and endoscopy equipment, increasing the number and accessibility of accreditation sessions for new endoscopists and building further capacity through community diagnostic centres and the adopt and adapt programme.

Rare Diseases: Health Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans NHS England has to establish specific rare disease registries, such as a registry for hereditary angioedema, to enable better clinical understanding and support for those rare conditions.

Maria Caulfield: NHS Digital collects information about people with rare diseases for England through the National Congenital Anomaly and Rare Disease Registration Service (NCARDRS). As part of work to deliver the United Kingdom Rare Diseases Framework, NCARDRS is working with other partner organisations, such as NHS England, on the topic of national rare disease registration data. Though NCARDRS does not currently collect information on people who have been diagnosed with hereditary angioedema, it will work with interested parties to advance data collection on specific rare diseases.

Prostate Cancer: Blood Tests

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to introduce PSA blood tests to detect and help prevent prostate cancer in line with action already taken out during chemotherapy sessions.

Maria Caulfield: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing for men over the age of 50 years old is already available through general practitioner (GP) surgeries as part of the prostate cancer risk management programme. Tests can be arranged through the National Health Service for men aged 50 years old and over who decide to have their PSA levels tested after consultation with their GP.

Cancer: Health Services

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether additional cancer diagnostic and treatment capacity will be provided to local NHS trusts to help reach March 2022 targets.

Maria Caulfield: A further £5.4 billion funding package has been made available to the local National Health Service for October 2021 to March 2022 to support the recovery of services. This includes an additional £500 million of capital investment and an additional £1 billion for elective activity, which will support cancer services. As part of the Elective Recovery Fund, £20 million was made available to Cancer Alliances to accelerate cancer diagnosis and manage referrals.

Members: Correspondence

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to correspondence from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay dated 22 July 2021 and further correspondence of 26 August 2021 and 29 September 2021 regarding a constituent with reference JB33540.

Edward Argar: We replied to the hon. Member on 29 October 2021.

NHS: Pay

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to reports that the increase in employee national insurance contributions will cost health and social care workers an additional £900 million annually from April 2022, what estimate he has made of the overall increase to salary costs in the NHS, attributable to increased employer contributions as a result of that rise.

Edward Argar: The Government has compensated Departments and other public sector employers in England for the increased cost of the levy, including NHS England and NHS Improvement and provided Barnett consequentials on this funding to the devolved administrations. The autumn Budget set out that the cost of this across public sector employers is approximately £1.7 billion to £1.8 billion a year overall. The amount the National Health Service will be compensated by will be proportional to the NHS paybill and NHS England and NHS Improvement will prepare and communicate its allocations to individual organisations and services in due course.

Nutrition: Regulation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform independent report, published on 16 June 2021, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making regulatory reforms to support the medical nutrition industry in line with that report's findings.

Edward Argar: The Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform’s report recommended establishing a regulatory framework for the category of novel, health enhancing foods and supplements. The Department has reviewed this recommendation and concluded that the United Kingdom already has in place the legislation and processes required for the regulation of these products. These items are included in existing product categories such as food supplements, novel foods, additives, enzymes and food flavourings, foods for specific groups and medicines.

Department for Education

Schools: Finance

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 96 of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, how much of the £4.7 billion increase to school funding he plans to allocate to public sector compensation for employer costs of the Health and Social Care Levy.

Mr Robin Walker: As announced at the 2021 Spending Review, we are continuing to deliver year on year, real terms per pupil increases to school funding, investing a further £4.7 billion in the core school budget by financial year 2024-25 compared to previous plans. Overall, this is equivalent to a cash increase of £1,500 per pupil by financial year 2024-25 compared to financial year 2019-20.The settlement includes a further £1.6 billion in financial year 2022-23, over financial year 2021-22 levels, on top of the £2.4 billion increase already announced as part of the 2019 spending round. This additional funding will help the school sector respond to the pressures we know they are facing, and includes £0.3 billion of funding for the public sector compensation for employer costs of the Health and Social Care Levy in each year of the Spending Review. We will make announcements on how the additional £1.6 billion of funding for financial year 2022-23 will be distributed in due course.

Remote Education

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing and updating the list of digital platforms that are included in his Department’s Get help with remote education guidance to include (a) UK companies and (b) challengers to the largest technology companies.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing and updating the list of digital platforms that are included in his Department’s Get help with remote education guidance to reflect the Government’s new ambition to create a pro-competition regime for digital markets.

Mr Robin Walker: Beyond the need to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, the department believes that it is up to educational establishments to decide what technology they need to meet their requirements in relation to their educational contexts and circumstances, and do not actively back or mandate individual products.More information about digital education platforms can be found here: https://get-help-with-tech.education.gov.uk/digital-platforms/.

Education: Disadvantaged

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative assessment he has made of the educational disadvantage caused by covid-19 school closures to (a) those eligible for the pupil premium and (b) other pupils; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robin Walker: Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 disruption on the attainment and progress of all pupils is a key research priority for the government. The department has commissioned an independent research and assessment agency to provide a baseline assessment of catch-up needs for pupils in schools in England and monitor progress over the course of the 2020/21 academic year. This research is based on assessments that schools are already using and adds no additional burden on teachers. Initial findings from the research were published on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-progress-in-the-2020-to-2021-academic-year-interim-report. The department is currently exploring options to assess progress over the course of the current academic year. The latest evidence suggests that, in Summer 2021, primary pupils were on average around 1 month behind in reading and around 3 months behind in maths compared to where we would expect them to be in a ‘normal year’. Secondary pupils were behind in reading by around 2 months. Once adjusted for historic differences in pupil progress, pupils who are currently eligible for free school meals or had been within the last six years, were on average around half a month further behind in primary reading and maths, and 1.7 months further behind in secondary reading compared to their more advantaged peers in Summer 2021. Education loss estimates for pupils who are being looked after by a local authority, or who have left care, are not available due to data limitations. However, education loss estimates of children in need, some of whom are also eligible for pupil premium, show that they were on average 1.2 months behind in primary reading and 3.3 months behind in secondary reading. This government is committed to ensuring children and young people can make up for education lost during the COVID-19 outbreak, especially those most in need. The department has announced funding of almost £5 billion since June 2020 to support education recovery for children and young people in schools, 16-19 colleges and early years. This will have a material impact in closing gaps that have emerged. The department’s recovery programmes have been designed to allow early years, school and college leaders the flexibility to support those pupils most in need, including the most disadvantaged - with many programmes specifically targeted at disadvantaged pupils.

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department his made of the differential impact of increases to per pupil funding, as announced on 27 October 2021, between the (a) most deprived and (b) least deprived fifth of schools.

Mr Robin Walker: The Autumn 2021 Spending Review delivers an additional £4.7 billion for the core schools budget by financial year 2024-25, compared to previous plans. That includes an additional £1.6 billion for schools and high needs in financial year 2022-23, on top of the funding we have previously announced. The department will confirm in due course how this additional funding for financial year 2022-23, and for the two subsequent years, will be allocated for schools and high needs.In summer 2021 the department announced that, next year, funding through the schools national funding formula (NFF) is increasing by 3.2% overall, and by 2.8% per pupil, compared to financial year 2021-22. The NFF continues to distribute this fairly, based on the needs of schools and their pupil cohorts. The NFF is levelling up school funding by increasing core factors of the formula (such as the basic per-pupil funding rate, and deprivation factors) by 3%, while also ensuring that every school is allocated at least 2% more pupil-led per pupil funding. As part of that increase, the amount allocated towards deprivation in the financial year 2022-23 NFF is increasing by £225 million, or 6.7%, compared to financial year 2021-22.The NFF targets funding to schools which have the greatest numbers of pupils with additional needs. In the 2022-23 financial year, the NFF is providing a total of £6.7 billion (17%) targeted at schools with higher numbers of pupils with additional needs, including deprivation. In addition, the department is allocating £2.5 billion in financial year 2021-22 through the pupil premium, to support schools to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. Allocations for the pupil premium in 2022-23 will be made in March 2022.This funding is in addition to the three major interventions we have made to support education recovery in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, and the 2021 Spending Review provided an additional £1 billion for a Recovery Premium over the academic years of 2022/23 and 2023/24. Both the Recovery Premium and the National Tutoring Programme (which we have committed £1.2 billion since June 2020, including £579 million paid directly to schools to employ new or existing school staff as tutors), are directing funding based pupil premium eligibility figures, to ensure appropriate funding reaches schools facing the greatest challenges.

Schools: Coronavirus

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department is collecting from schools to (a) monitor and (b) assess covid-19 catch-up activity.

Mr Robin Walker: The department is collecting a range of data from schools to monitor and assess COVID-19 catch-up activity. We have commissioned Renaissance Learning, and their subcontractor the Education Policy Institute, to collect data from a sample of schools to provide a baseline assessment of education lost and catch-up needs for pupils in schools in England, and to monitor progress over the course of the academic year 2020/21 and Autumn term 2021. We are also seeking commercial agreements for further academic years.The department has a contract with Ipsos MORI, in consortium with Sheffield Hallam University and the Centre for Education and Youth, to undertake a mixed-methods study design (including gathering data through surveys of school leaders, interviews, and case studies) to examine how schools are tackling the issue of lost learning. Results from the study will be used to understand how the catch-up premium funds have been spent and how best to support schools to tackle learning loss.We are also collecting data from schools on specific education recovery programmes. For example, the department receives data on schools’ take-up of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), using this data to track progress against delivery, and has commissioned independent evaluators to use this data to understand the effectiveness of the NTP. Ofsted are also conducting thematic reviews into tutoring and teacher quality. Their findings will be informed by their interviews with schools.The department is mindful of the burden that data collections can put on schools and has robust processes in place to ensure the value of collecting the data outweighs the potential additional burdens.

Students: Finance

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2021 to Question 57294, on Students: Finance, what data he holds on the number of applicants who began studies outside the UK before becoming refugees and have subsequently only been granted funding by the Student Loans Company for the years of their course that are deemed to be uncompleted; and whether he has plans to enable funding to be made available to those applicants for full courses at higher education institutions in the UK.

Michelle Donelan: The department is not able to answer the requirements in this request around the number of applicants who began studies outside the UK before becoming refugees. The Student Loans Company asks students "Have you started an undergraduate course of Higher Education in any country since leaving school?" on the application form but does not log which country the applicant studied in so cannot confirm if the studies were started outside the UK.Generally, fee support on full-time courses is available for the duration of the course plus one extra year if needed. If a student has previous full-time higher education (HE) study at a publicly funded provider, whether within the UK or overseas, those years will normally be deducted from the number of years of fee support available for a subsequent full-time course. These rules exist to enable us to target resources more effectively at students who have not had a chance to experience HE. The rules do not apply to maintenance support.In addition to the standard entitlement, if a student did not complete their most recent previous course because of compelling personal reasons, an additional year of fee support may be granted in respect of the first year that the student takes of a new course. This applies equally to persons who have been granted international protection by the Home Office such as refugees and, from 1 August 2022 those relocated to the UK under the Afghan relocation and assistance policy, who will be eligible for immediate student support without needing to demonstrate three years ordinary residence in the UK and Islands before the start of the course.There are no current plans to changes this system.

Schools: Mental Health Services

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to help ensure that every child in full time education has access through their place of education to an appropriately-qualified and professionally registered counsellor with experience of working with young people; and if he will make a statement.

Will Quince: Schools and colleges have an important role to play in supporting the resilience and mental health of their pupils and students. The department recognises that counselling, by well-qualified practitioners, can play a particularly effective role as part of a whole school or college approach to supporting mental health and wellbeing, guidance for which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing.Many schools and colleges already provide their pupils access to counselling support, and we have set out a strong expectation in guidance that, over time, all schools should make counselling services available to their pupils. However, the provision of access to counselling in schools and colleges is not mandatory. It is up to schools and colleges to decide what level of counselling to provide, working with other organisations including local authorities and the NHS who may fund counselling locally. It is also important there is freedom for each school or college to decide what support to offer to children and young people and staff based on their particular needs and drawing on an evidence base of effective practice. This support can come from a number of sources, including counselling.The department has published a blueprint for school counselling services, focusing on supporting the provision of counselling in schools with practical, evidence-based advice, informed by schools and counselling experts, on how to deliver high-quality school-based counselling. It sets out that counselling works best within a whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing, which considers issues such as promoting wellbeing, raising awareness of, and reducing stigma around, mental health issues and providing an effective pastoral system. It also offers information on how to ensure that vulnerable children, including those with special educational needs and disabilites, looked after children, and those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, who have a higher prevalence of mental illness, can access counselling provision, details of which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools.

T-levels

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what current academic qualifications will lose funding following the proposed introduction of T-Level qualifications.

Alex Burghart: We will continue to fund high quality qualifications that can be taken alongside, or as alternatives to, T Levels and A levels, where there is a clear need for skills and knowledge that T Levels and A levels cannot provide.We have not pre-judged which subject areas will be funded in future, but our plans for reform published in July listed a number of areas where we see a clear role for academic qualifications to sit alongside A levels. These include performing and creative arts, sport and STEM subjects.Funding approval criteria for academic qualifications to be approved for delivery from 2024 and beyond will be published in 2022.

Children: Disability

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the finding of Scope and the Disabled Children’s Partnership’s report entitled The Gap Widens, published in October 2021, that there is a £573 million funding gap in disabled children’s social care, what estimate his Department has made of the funding gap in disabled children’s social care.

Will Quince: I refer the hon. Member for City of Durham, to the answer I gave on 20 October 2021 to Question 56976.

Special Educational Needs

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that transfer of information from school to college is as effective as the transfer of information from school to school, for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

Will Quince: The department is taking numerous steps to ensure the effective transfer of information for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) between school and college.The SEND Code of Practice is clear that “SEND support should include planning and preparation for the transitions between phases of education and preparation for adult life. The school should share information with the school, college or other setting the child or young person is moving to. Schools should agree with parents and pupils the information to be shared as part of this planning process”.Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to review the education, health and care (EHC) plans that they maintain at least every 12 months. Reviews must focus on the progress of the young person towards achieving the outcomes specified in the EHC plan and must consider whether the outcomes remain appropriate. The results of these reviews are shared with schools and colleges to ensure a continued progression of support.The department currently funds the Whole School SEND Consortium and the Education and Training Foundation to deliver activities which equip education leaders and the school and further education workforce to effectively support children and young people with SEND. These activities include supporting the smooth transition from the school learning environment to further education and to prepare young people for adulthood through high quality provision.One of the commitments in the National Disability Strategy is to create an ‘Access to Work Adjustments Passport’ to support disabled people with their transition into employment, including disabled students leaving education. Officials from the department are currently supporting officials from the Department for Work and Pensions on piloting this passport.

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the pupil premium is set to rise over the next 12 months in Harlow.

Mr Robin Walker: The department will confirm pupil premium allocations for the 2022-23 financial year in March 2022. This will provide the public with information on the specific amounts that regions, local authorities and schools are receiving through the pupil premium for 2022-23. The Department publishes information on pupil premium allocations and the number of pupils eligible annually. The most recent publicly available figures can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2021-to-2022.

Schools: Demonstrations

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to stop anti-vaccination protestors disrupting schools.

Mr Robin Walker: It is never acceptable for anyone to pressurise or intimidate pupils, teachers or the wider school community, and protestors engaging in this type of behaviour should immediately bring it to an end.The department has provided information in guidance for schools on how to handle any misinformation or disruption. In the event of a protest or disruptive activity outside a school, or if schools know a protest is planned, they should alert the School Age Immunisation Service provider, local authority and local police contacts to discuss the best way to manage the situation.Should a protest contravene the law, the police have comprehensive powers to deal with activities that spread hate or deliberately raise tensions through violence or public disorder.  This does not negate the right to peaceful protest.

T-levels

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential short-term effect on students’ educational prospects of replacing current applied general qualifications with T-Level qualifications; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that students across the country can continue to access a wide variety of educational pathways following the proposed rollout of T-Levels.

Alex Burghart: Plans for the reform of level 3 qualifications were published in July. Students will continue to access a wide variety of high-quality level 3 pathways in future. They will continue to be able to study applied general qualifications (AGQs) as part of mixed programmes alongside A levels, where they meet new quality standards. Students will also be able to study AGQs as their full programme of study where there is no T Level and are in areas less well served by A levels. There will be a range of technical qualifications that will be offered alongside T Levels. The first will be qualifications supporting entry to occupations where there is no T Level. The second will be ‘specialist’ qualifications that develop more specialist skills and knowledge than could be acquired through a T Level alone. The accompanying impact assessment did not distinguish between short and long term impacts of change but set out our expectation that the educational impact of the reforms will be positive for most students. This is because students will have access to higher quality qualifications in future, including new T Levels. This will put them in a stronger position to progress onto further study or skilled employment.

Apprentices: Employment Schemes

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will maintain the current uplift in the apprenticeship incentive payment until September 2022.

Alex Burghart: The Spending Review has delivered the first increase to employer-led apprenticeships funding since the 2019/20 financial year, with funding for apprenticeships in England growing to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. On 4 October 2021, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a £500 million expansion of the Plan for Jobs. This included a further extension of the apprenticeship incentive payment to support employers of all sizes to offer apprenticeships. Employers will be able to claim a £3,000 payment for any apprentice that has an employment start date between 1 October 2021 and 31 January 2022. They will be able to claim for their payment from January 2022. The extended payment makes it a great time for employers to offer new apprenticeship opportunities and take advantage of existing flexibilities to train apprentices in a way that suits their needs.We do not plan to further extend the incentives beyond 31 January 2022 but will continue to support employers with the cost of apprenticeship training. The government will pay 95% of apprentice training costs for employers who do not pay the apprenticeship levy, alongside offering the newly improved apprenticeship levy transfers system to help smaller employers fund their apprenticeship training.

T-levels

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding and investment he plans to make available to ensure the success of proposed T-Level qualifications.

Alex Burghart: We have an extensive programme of support in place for T Levels, which will be backed by £500 million per year in revenue funding once fully rolled out. We have already invested over £165 million in capacity building funding to ensure providers can work with employers to deliver Industry Placements. An Employer Incentive Scheme has also been introduced, where employers can receive a £1,000 payment for hosting a T Level industry placement.To ensure that T Level students benefit from high quality facilities and cutting-edge equipment, we have made £268 million capital funding available for T Levels starting in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Every teacher offering T Levels has been able to take advantage of the T Level Professional Development offer, for which we have committed over £15 million in the 2021-22 financial year.

Schools: Broadband

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's press release of 14 October 2021, 1,000 schools connected to top-of-the-class full fibre broadband, how many schools will not have access to full-fibre gigabit broadband by 2025.

Mr Robin Walker: According to data from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), 3,835 schools are in postcodes that do not have access to full fibre or are currently not in areas of proposed commercial build within the next 5 years. The government remains committed to investing £5 billion to bring gigabit coverage to the hardest to reach areas and will continue to work with suppliers to accelerate this investment, taking account of industry capacity to bid for, and deliver, contracts to build in uncommercial areas alongside their commercial plans. GigaHubs is one of the programmes DCMS is using to deliver the government ambition of gigabit capabilities across the UK by 2030. As part of the wider Project Gigabit, GigaHubs will use up to £110 million to connect public buildings such as rural schools, doctors’ surgeries and libraries to gigabit broadband. This will help GPs provide remote video consultations and allow whole classes of school children to be online, at once, with no interruptions. Around 2,000 schools are in scope of the Gigabit Hubs programme and so will have access to gigabit capable connectivity by 2025. These figures do not account for schools that already have access to fibre through a private leased line arrangement to enable gigabit capable connectivity. These figures are also open to flux as commercial build plans evolve over time.

T-levels

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with experts in curriculum development and pedagogy in designing T-Level qualifications; and what experience the panels designing T-Levels have in working with 14 to 19-year-old learners at further education colleges.

Alex Burghart: T Levels have been designed to give young people the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to progress directly to skilled employment or further technical study. The learning needs of 16-19 year olds and the skills needs of employers have played a central role at every stage of T Level development. T Levels are based on the same standards as apprenticeships and the outline content was designed by panels of experts in collaboration with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (the Institute). The T Level panels consist of employers, industry experts and education providers, including some further education colleges. A list of panel members for each T Level can be accessed on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/t-level-panels-membership. In developing the outline content, T Level panels received support and advice from education experts who have significant experience and expertise in curriculum and assessment design and in pedagogy. A single awarding organisation is contracted by the Institute to develop the technical qualification for each T Level on the basis of the outline content. Awarding organisations are required to evidence engagement with a range of education providers and employers throughout the development process. T Level technical qualifications are quality assured by the Institute and Ofqual. Both organisations work together to ensure that T Levels are high quality and continue to meet the needs of learners and employers.

T-levels

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the National Education Union in the development of T-Level qualifications.

Alex Burghart: Collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders has been central to the development of T Levels and contributed to their successful launch in September last year.Employers and other experts have designed the content of the qualifications, and we consulted extensively on the design, implementation and funding arrangements for T Levels, to which we received responses from the National Education Union. We have also engaged relevant stakeholders, including the National Union of Students, on an ongoing basis through advisory groups.We have had no recent discussions with the National Education Union about T Levels and would welcome their input should they wish to meet.

Schools: Energy

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2021 to Question 53964 on Schools: Energy, what assessment he has made of the impact of the rise in energy costs on schools.

Mr Robin Walker: The department recognises that schools may be facing pressures this winter, including where energy prices have increased. School funding remains one of the department’s key priorities, which is why the 2021 Spending Review secured an additional £4.7 billion in the core school budget by the 2024-25 financial year compared to previous plans. The settlement includes a further £1.6 billion in the 2022-23 financial year, which is over 2021-22 levels, on top of the £2.4 billion increase already announced as part of the 2019 spending round. This additional funding will help the school sector respond to the pressures we know they are facing, for example on energy costs and national insurance contributions from April 2022. The department will make announcements on the breakdown of the 2023-24 and 2024-25 core school budget in due course, as well as the distribution of the additional £1.6 billion of funding confirmed for 2022-23. Schools will have the flexibility to make their own decisions on how to prioritise their spending to invest in a range of resources that will best support their staff and pupils. Schools continue to be able to access existing support for financial issues, including a wide range of school resource management tools, and, in serious circumstances, additional funding or advances from local authorities for maintained schools, or the Education and Skills Funding Agency for academy trusts.

Condition Improvement Fund: Harlow

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much capital investment has been made into schools in Harlow through the Condition Improvement Fund in each year since 2010.

Mr Robin Walker: Schools and those responsible for school buildings receive condition funding through different routes depending on their size and type. Local authorities, larger multi-academy trusts and large voluntary aided school bodies, such as dioceses, receive a School Condition Allocation (SCA) to invest in priorities across the schools for which they are responsible. Smaller or stand-alone academy trusts, other voluntary aided schools and sixth-form colleges can bid to the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) which launched its first annual round for the 2015-16 financial year. Schools are either eligible to apply for CIF or receive condition funding through the SCA made to their responsible body, and all schools are also allocated devolved formula capital (DFC) to spend on small projects that meet their own priorities. An overview of school capital funding is available on GOV.uk along with published lists of SCA and DFC allocations at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-capital-funding.Eligible schools in Harlow have been granted the following funding through CIF:Application roundCIF funding provided to Harlow schools2015-16£2,897,6052016-17£2,368,7482017-18£2,787,6382018-19£2,199,1292019-20£3,765,6272020-21£2,328,7522021-22£6,588,755 The department publishes final funding amounts on individual projects once all projects in an annual round have completed. Funding for projects in the CIF rounds for financial years 2015-16 and 2016-17 are available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/condition-improvement-fund-2015-to-2016-outcome.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/condition-improvement-fund-2016-to-2017-outcome.Funding figures for following rounds will be published in due course.

Further Education: Coronavirus

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that children who have been absent from school as a result of illness from covid-19 are not penalised in applications to further education institutions that have a fixed attendance requirement for enrolment.

Alex Burghart: We recognise that extended restrictions on attendance at school and colleges have had an impact on children and young people’s learning, but decisions about admissions by further education (FE) institutions are a matter for providers themselves and are not specified by the government.The department does, however, expect FE providers to be mindful of the impact of COVID-19 when considering any entry requirements for young people entering FE.

T-levels

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that young people have access to a wide choice of T-Levels that meet individual (a) needs and (b) interests; and what steps he is taking to ensure that their choice is not limited to (i) their location and (ii) local industries.

Alex Burghart: T Levels are being introduced across 11 different industry areas, from Engineering & Manufacturing and Digital, to Creative & Design and Science. The rollout of T Levels began last year with three subjects offered by 43 providers. 10 T Levels are now offered by over 100 providers. These numbers will grow year on year and over 20 T Levels will be available by 2023. This gradual introduction has meant T Levels got off to a high-quality start with feedback from both providers and students has been positive.Current T Level providers are based across the country, and we have ensured they are represented in Opportunity Areas. As the rollout continues, coverage will increase and more students will benefit from these pioneering new qualifications. Young people will also benefit from improved, high-quality information, advice and guidance to help them make informed choices about the course that is right for them.T Level content is designed by employers, so they will meet students’ needs by giving them the skills and knowledge needed by business. Current T Level students have been particularly enthusiastic about industry placements, which allow them to hone their technical skills in their chosen occupational specialism.As with other education provisions, we do not expect all T Levels to be available in all post-16 providers. Providers will choose which courses to offer based on a number of factors, including their current post-16 offer and the local labour market situation. This is no different to current arrangements. The department has given extensive support to ensure providers can work with local employers to offer industry placements, and the National Apprenticeship Service is helping to match providers and employers, particularly targeting areas where there may be gaps in provision.As part of our review of level 3 qualifications, we have set out the range of situations where we see a role for other technical qualifications to sit alongside T Levels. For 16-19 year olds this includes qualifications enabling entry to occupations not covered by T Levels. Information on reforms to post-16 qualifications at level 3 in England can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reforms-to-post-16-qualifications-at-level-3-in-england.

Ministry of Justice

Human Rights

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Human Rights Act 1998.

James Cartlidge: As the Deputy Prime Minister has set out, we will update the Human Rights Act (HRA) to make sure it meets the needs of the society it serves and commands public support. The Government has established the Independent Human Rights Act Review to examine the framework of the HRA, how it is operating in practice and whether any change is required. We have received the Panel’s report and are carefully considering the Panel’s conclusions as part of a wider reform programme. We will publish the Panel’s report in due course and have already committed to consulting on proposed changes to the Act.

Gender: Registration

Mark Jenkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he will take to ensure the recording of biological natal sex on all records in his Department's remit.

James Cartlidge: This question is not answerable within the proscribed PQ cost limit of £850.00. The PQ requests an answer pertaining to the steps taken to ensure biological natal sex is recorded on all records in the MOJ. To provide a response, officials would need to ascertain the facts of the extent of the activities undertaken to ensure the recording of biological natal sex on all MOJ records, or alternatively confirm that no steps are taken to ensure the recording of biological natal sex on all MOJ records. In addition to this, investigations would also need to identify all systems, programmes and files that may hold records concerning the recording of biological natal sex in the organisation and extract that information to form a factual answer. It is estimated that this would cost £1500.00. To enable the department to provide a full answer within the proscribed cost limit, a revision to the question on scope and specificity is recommended.

Prisoners: Crime

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2021 to Question 58816, Prisoners: Crime, whether he holds data on the number of (a) referrals, (b) prosecutions and (c) successful prosecutions relating to crimes allegedly committed by prisoners in (i) HMP Aylesbury, (ii) HMP Berwyn, (iii) HMP Chelmsford, (iv) HMP Rochester and (v) HMP Swaleside in each of the last three years.

Victoria Atkins: The Ministry of Justice is not able to provide data on (a) referrals, (b) prosecutions and (c) successful prosecutions relating to crimes allegedly committed by prisoners as this information is not held centrally on the court proceedings database. We are currently undertaking a review of our centrally recorded data on crimes in prison and plan for data collection to begin next year (2022). This will require prisons to capture and record the number of police referrals that are made.

Prisoners: Pregnancy

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the publication of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman’s independent investigation into the death of a baby (Baby A) at HMP Bronzefield on 27 September 2019, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of ending the use of imprisonment for pregnant women.

Victoria Atkins: The death of Baby A was a tragedy and we have taken a range of actions with our partners to prevent this from happening again.Sentencing is a matter for the independent judiciary. However, we recognise the additional challenges experienced by pregnant women in prison and we are taking steps to ensure sentencing decisions are better informed by individual circumstances and that there are viable alternatives to custody.Since the publication of the Female Offender Strategy in 2018, we have invested around £7 million in the women’s community sector to increase sustainability, enhance services and develop new provision, with a further £2.5 million being invested this year.We are also investing in a range of initiatives that aim to encourage use of robust community sentences including Problem Solving Courts, Community Sentence Treatment Requirements, Electronic Monitoring and a Pre-Sentence Report (PSR) pilot. Specifically, we have developed a PSR checklist for women which ensures that individual circumstances, such as pregnancy, are taken into account.

Prisoners: Mothers

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the findings of the report, Counting the cost of maternal imprisonment, published by Crest Advisory on 24 October 2021.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report Counting the cost of maternal imprisonment, published by Crest Advisory on 24 October 2021, and the estimate that local authority intervention costs and costs to HMPPS of maternal prison sentences total up to £265,008 per family, if he will make an estimate of the total cost to the public purse of a (a) fixed term recall, (b) three month custodial sentence, (c) six month custodial sentence, (d) 12 month custodial sentence and (e) community sentence for a primary carer mother with two children under 16.

Victoria Atkins: We recognise the significant impact of imprisonment on women with dependent children and their families, who are disproportionately affected by parental imprisonment.On 20 September the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) published a new policy on pregnancy, Mother and Baby Units and maternal separation from children up to the age of two in women’s prisons. This contains requirements that aim to improve support for women experiencing separation from young children, during an important period for attachment and bonding.The recommendations in Crest’s report concern work related to a number of Government Departments. Through our multi-agency approach to implementation of the Farmer Review for Women, on which 20 recommendations have been completed to date, we will ensure that these recommendations and findings are factored into our wider work on how imprisoned mothers can be supported at every stage of the Criminal Justice System.Sentencing is a matter for the independent judiciary. However, we recognise the additional challenges for pregnancy women in custody and are taking steps to ensure sentencing decisions are better informed by individual circumstances and that there are viable alternatives to custody.Since the publication of the Female Offender Strategy in 2018, we have invested around £7 million in the women’s community sector to increase sustainability, enhance services and develop new provision, with a further £2.5 million being invested this year. We are also investing in a range of initiatives that aim to encourage use of robust community sentences including Problem Solving Courts, Community Sentence Treatment Requirements, Electronic Monitoring and a Pre-Sentence Report pilot. Specifically, we have developed a PSR checklist for women, to ensure these take into account individual circumstances such as pregnancy and the impact that imprisonment has on these.We have not yet made an assessment of the report’s estimate that the cost of local authority interventions and costs to HMPPS of maternal prison sentences total up to £265,008 per family. However, published figures for the annual costs of female imprisonment for 2019-20 can be found here: Prison performance statistics 2019 to 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Department for International Trade

Woodhouse Colliery: Exports

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions she has had with AMR Capital, the owners of the proposed Whitehaven coal mine, on the export destination of mined coal from Cumbria.

Mike Freer: The Secretary of State for International Trade has had no discussions with AMR Capital (the major shareholder of West Cumbria Mining) on the export destination of mined metallurgical coal from West Cumbria Mining’s proposed Whitehaven coal mine. Nor did she have any discussions with AMR Capital during her previous role as Minister of State for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change and UK International Champion on Adaptation and Resilience for the COP26 Presidency.

Iron and Steel: Safeguard Measures

Holly Mumby-Croft: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what correspondence she has had with the Trade Remedies Authority on the timetable for their re-examination of the UK's steel safeguards.

Penny Mordaunt: The Trade Remedies Authority, as the independent non-departmental statutory body responsible for carrying out investigations into trade remedies measures is responsible for making decisions regarding its process for any reconsideration it initiates.

Trade Agreements: Climate Change

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will include consideration of climate impacts as part of any new trade deals.

Penny Mordaunt: We conduct initial scoping assessments ahead of new Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and impact assessments once FTAs have been signed. These look at climate change as well as environmental concerns from biodiversity to air quality.We have agreed ambitious environmental chapters with both Australia and New Zealand, which preserve our right to regulate to meet net zero, affirm our shared commitment to the Paris Agreement and seek to cooperate on a range of environmental issues.Through trading relationships and promoting the take up of green tech, we can support global goals on the environment.

Diplomatic Relations: Australia

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether Government business was discussed at the dinner she attended at the residence of the Australian High Commissioner on 13 June 2021 attended by Mr Lynton Crosby and Mr Isaac Levido.

Penny Mordaunt: Some government business was discussed during the course of the event.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Anoosheh Ashoori

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 September 2021 to Question 36626 on Anoosheh Ashoori, what progress his Department has made on its review of detained UK dual national Anoosheh Ashoori’s application for diplomatic protection; and when his Department plans to (a) complete and (b) announce a decision on that review.

James Cleverly: We have received Mr Ashoori's application for diplomatic protection. The Foreign Secretary is considering the matter carefully. We remain committed to securing Mr Ashoori's immediate and permanent release. We have been supporting Mr Ashoori's family since we became aware of his detention. The Foreign Secretary has remained in contact with the family to reinforce the UK's efforts to bring him home. She last spoke with them on 19 September.

Humanitarian Aid

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Spending Review 2021: Priority outcomes and metrics, what the baseline year is used to determine whether the goal of increasing the number of people reached through humanitarian and social protection support has been achieved; and how many people were reached in that year.

James Cleverly: The goal for increasing the number of people reached through humanitarian and social protection support is new. Therefore, there is no existing baseline data with which to compare achievements. Financial year 2021/22 will form our baseline.

Developing Countries: Education

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Government's Spending Review 2021, Priority outcomes and metrics, what the baseline year is that her Department uses to determine whether it has achieved the goal of increasing the number of additional girls reading by age 10 or the end of primary school, year-on-year change, in priority countries; and how many girls were reading by age 10 or the end of primary school in that baseline year.

Wendy Morton: As part of the UK's G7 Presidency this year, G7 partners agreed to working with developing countries to get 20 million more girls reading by age ten or the end of primary school, by 2026. This is a global goal, and a milestone towards Sustainable Development Goal 4 by 2030. This learning data is for low and lower-middle income countries. The data is published by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, and 2019 is the starting year. A baseline number is currently being finalised.

Developing Countries: Education

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Government's Spending Review 2021, Priority outcomes and metrics, what the baseline year is that her Department uses to determine whether it has achieved the goal of increasing the number of additional girls in education, year-on-year change, in priority countries; and how many girls were in education in that baseline year.

Wendy Morton: As part of the UK's G7 Presidency this year, G7 partners agreed to work with developing countries to get 40 million more girls into school by 2026. This is a global goal, and a milestone towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 by 2030. The enrolment data used is for girls of primary and lower-secondary school age living in low and lower-middle income countries. The data is published by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and 2020 is the baseline year, when 314 million such girls were estimated to be in school.

India: Visas

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Indian counterpart on the reopening of tourist visas for travellers from the UK to India.

Amanda Milling: India has announced that it will issue tourist visas for group travel from 15 October and individual travel from 15 November, which we welcome. It is for the Indian Government to determine the types and validity of the visas it offers.

Overseas Aid

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of reductions in the aid budget on (a) poverty, (b) inequality and (c) the UK’s reputation in the Global South.

Amanda Milling: The UK is a world leader in development, committed to the global fight against poverty and to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. In 2020 we spent £14.5 billion Official Development Assistance (ODA) fighting poverty and helping those in need, despite the seismic impact of the pandemic on the UK and global economy. This included £1.7 billion supporting the effort to fight coronavirus, £1.5 billion in humanitarian assistance, and we gave more than half of our regional bilateral aid to countries in Africa.In 2021, the UK will spend over £10 billion and remain one of the largest ODA contributors in the world. Based on 2020 OECD data, the UK will be the third largest ODA donor in the G7 as a percentage of GNI in 2021 and will spend above the average for OECD Development Assistance Committee members (0.41%). As the Chancellor said during his budget speech of 27th October, improving economic forecasts shows that HMG is scheduled to return to spending 0.7% of Gross National Income on aid in financial year 2024/25.

Zimbabwe: Coronavirus

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many covid-19 vaccination doses the Government has made available to Zimbabwe.

Vicky Ford: Zimbabwe has achieved one of the highest rates of COVID-19 vaccination coverage in Africa which is to be welcomed. As at 19th October a cumulative 3,234,589 million people and 2,493,995 million people have been vaccinated with their first dose and second dose respectively. Zimbabwe has been confirmed as a participant of the COVAX facility, of which the UK is a major donor. Through COVAX, Zimbabwe has so far received 943,200 doses of Sinopharm. The UK has committed £548m to COVAX's Advance Market Commitment to help procure doses for up to 92 lower-income economies, of which Zimbabwe is one.

Afghanistan: Females

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office, what discussions he has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) her international counterparts on the ability of girls and women to complete their education in Afghanistan.

James Cleverly: We are committed to prioritising women and girls in the Government's response to the situation in Afghanistan. We are concerned by the lack of clarity on Taliban's policy on secondary education for girls and continue to press them to ensure the full and equal access to education for all. We will continue to work with the international community to use our influence to secure women's and girls' rights to access education and jobs and to participate in public life. The Foreign Secretary has discussed women's rights, including girls' education, with international counterparts including at the G7 and at the recent 12 October extraordinary meeting of G20 Leaders on Afghanistan, where the Foreign Secretary represented the Prime Minister.

Yemen: Peace Negotiations

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the prospects for a negotiated peace settlement in Yemen.

James Cleverly: We support fully the Yemen peace process led by UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg. An inclusive political settlement is the only way to bring long-term stability to Yemen and end the humanitarian suffering. Special Envoy Grundberg recently visited Yemen and regional countries to drive momentum behind the peace process. However, the Houthis' offensive on Marib and Shabwa and the intensifying of Houthi cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia are worsening the crisis. On 20 October the UK supported a UN Security Council Press Statement calling for an immediate end to the Houthi escalation in Marib. The Foreign Secretary also raised Yemen with Saudi counterparts on her visit to Riyadh on 20 October. We urge the parties to engage constructively with the UN process and call on all states to release humanitarian funding commitments promptly.

Haiti: Earthquakes

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her US counterpart on the (a) impact of the earthquake in Haiti in August 2021 on that country and its residents and (b) response effort to that earthquake.

Wendy Morton: Following the devastating earthquake which hit Haiti on 14 August, the UK provided £1m of assistance to supply over 3,800 shelter and hygiene kits which are helping 1,300 families; boosting the Caribbean Disaster Management Agency (CDEMA) and the UN's coordination efforts; and providing food vouchers for up to 15,000 families by the end of November. In September 2021, the Prime Minister spoke to Vice-President Kamala Harris and discussed both the impact of the earthquake and the response effort.Our support was in addition to our significant contributions to the UN, the Red Cross and the Start fund. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel Wave Knight was deployed offshore from Haiti until 29 August, supporting the US humanitarian response by serving as a landing pad for US helicopters. Our combined military efforts resulted in 671 missions, saving 477 lives and the delivery of over 260,000 kilograms of aid. The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), of which the UK is a founding donor, has agreed a pay out of approximately $40 million. We will continue to monitor the situation.

Tigray: Humanitarian Aid

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to the Government of Ethiopia on (a) humanitarian access to the Tigray region and (b) the recent expulsion of United Nations officials from that region.

Vicky Ford: I have called on all parties in Ethiopia to urgently agree a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid through and for the Ethiopian Government to lift the de facto blockade of humanitarian relief into the Tigray region. On 30 September I also called on the Government of Ethiopia to reverse the decision to expel seven United Nations Officials from the country with immediate effect. The removal of key UN personnel will have a direct impact on the ability of the international community to deliver vital humanitarian assistance.Our concerns were reiterated at the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council on 4 October where a joint statement was issued by the UK Ambassador to the UN on behalf of over 40 countries, and we also raised this at the UN Security Council (UNSC) briefing on Ethiopia on 6 October. We continue to push both sides of the conflict to prioritise the wellbeing of people in need in Ethiopia and allow the flow of badly needed humanitarian assistance.

Lebanon: Politics and Government

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the (a) political and (b) humanitarian situation in Lebanon as of 28 October 2021.

James Cleverly: Lebanon is facing a severe economic crisis. Its people are suffering from the failure of Lebanon's political elites to deliver much-needed and long-promised reforms, exacerbated by the public health crisis caused by COVID-19 and the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion in August 2020.Since 2011, the UK has allocated over £780 million in humanitarian and development funding to Lebanon. The UK and members of the International Support Group for Lebanon stand with the people of Lebanon in their time of need, but we are clear that Lebanon's leaders must implement a credible reform process as the only sustainable way to address the crisis. We need to see long-overdue reforms and an investigation into the tragic Beirut port explosion, which delivers justice for the victims. I raised this when I met the new Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on 25 September. We continue to press the new government to implement the reforms needed set the country on a more sustainable footing.

Biodiversity and Nature Conservation: Finance

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to paragraph 2.162 of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, published on 27 October 2021, whether the £1.7 billion committed for nature and biodiversity over the spending review period will be met from the Official Development Assistance budget.

Vicky Ford: Yes, the £1.7 billion committed for nature and biodiversity will be Official Development Assistance. This funding will be used to help protect, restore and sustainably manage forests; to support the transition to sustainable agriculture and water management and to protect and restore the ocean.

Developing Countries: Climate Change

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the UK met the target to spend £5.8 billion on International Climate Finance for the period 2016–2020.

Vicky Ford: UK International Climate Finance (ICF) is spent by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra). In 2015 the UK committed to spend £5.8 billion of ICF between 2016/17 and 2020/21, supporting developing countries adapt and build resilience to the effects of climate change, pursue low-carbon development and sustainably manage natural resources. Between 2016/17 and 2019/20, £4.4 billion of ICF was spent. Final figures for the full five year period will be announced in due course but we expect the commitment of £5.8 billion to be met.

Hong Kong: British National (Overseas)

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to officials in Hong Kong on reports that Hongkongers who have successfully applied for a British National (Overseas) visa are unable to withdraw their pensions from Hong Kong.

Amanda Milling: Hong Kong's Mandatory Provident Fund Authority is unfairly disrupting people's livelihoods by refusing to accept the BN(O) visa when Hong Kongers apply for early withdrawal of their pensions. This is preventing Hong Kongers from accessing funds they are entitled to. The Government has raised our concerns with the relevant authorities.

Taiwan: People's Liberation Army

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has made assessment of the steps that the Government would take in the event that the People’s Liberation Army launched a military assault on Taiwan.

Amanda Milling: Her Majesty's Government considers the Taiwan issue one to be settled peacefully by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait through constructive dialogue. We are concerned by any activity which raises tensions and risks destabilising the status quo, and underscored the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait alongside partners in the latest G7 Foreign and Development Ministers' and Leaders' communiques.

Developing Countries: Children

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to help ensure that the economic impacts of the covid-19 pandemic do not reduce children's global access to (a) health, (b) education and (c) nutrition services.

Wendy Morton: The UK is committed to mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 on children's global access to essential health, nutrition, and education services. We do this through our ambitious global health agenda as set out in the Integrated Review, and the government's manifesto commitment to end the preventable deaths of mothers, new-borns, and children by 2030. We are the largest donor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and have pledged £1.65 billion from 2021 to 2025 to support the provision of vaccines to 300 million children, saving up to 8 million lives. The Nutrition for Growth summit in Tokyo in December will be a key moment for galvanising international support for access to nutrition for children, and the UK will set out its future ambitions there.The Prime Minister has launched the UK Girls' Education Action Plan, which sets out the UK's leadership and further commitments on girls' education in the face of the challenges presented by COVID-19, including getting 40 million more girls into school, and 20 million more girls reading by the age of 10 by 2026. The UK and Kenya co-hosted the refinancing summit for the Global Partnership for Education in July in London. The replenishment raised $4 billion on the day to help education systems build back better following COVID-19, and ensure girls return to school and learn.

Mortality Rates

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Spending Review 2021: Priority outcomes and metrics, what the baseline year is used to determine whether the goal of lowering mortality rates of mothers, newborns and children in priority countries has been achieved; and what the relevant mortality rates in those priority countries were in that year.

Wendy Morton: 2020 is the baseline year that will be used to determine whether the goal of lowering the mortality rates of mothers, newborns and children has been achieved.The global and national mortality rates for newborns and children are published by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation at https://childmortality.org/data. Maternal mortality estimates are published by the WHO at https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/maternal-mortality-2000-2017/en/.

Gender Based Violence

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Spending Review 2021: Priority outcomes and metrics, what the baseline year is used to determine whether the goal of increasing the number of people benefiting from gender-based violence prevention or response services through her Department's support has been achieved; and what the number of people benefiting from gender-based violence prevention or response services were in that year.

Wendy Morton: The new FCDO metric on gender-based violence shows the UK's ambition in tackling this violence globally. This is a new metric and work is now underway to identify the most accurate way to measure beneficiary numbers and set a baseline against which we can report future data.

Spain: Visas

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to her Spanish counterpart on allowing (a) visa and (b) permit free touring for British musicians.

Wendy Morton: The UK Government continues to engage with EU Member States, including Spain, that do not offer any visa or work permit free routes for touring professionals to encourage them to follow to the UK's more generous approach. We have raised this issue with the Spanish government at ministerial level on several occasions, including when I visited Spain on 30 September. The Government recognises the importance of the UK's creative and cultural industries, and is working to ensure that we support these industries to resume touring with confidence as we build back from the pandemic.

USA: Guided Weapons

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her US counterpart on the development of hypersonic missile technology.

James Cleverly: The Foreign Secretary holds regular discussions with her US counterpart on a range of issues, including on security policy. These discussions are reflected and supported by daily cooperation at official level on arms control and strategic stability between the UK and the US, as well as by wider cooperation with NATO Allies.The UK is monitoring international developments in missile technology. We will continue to push for all countries to act responsibly in the international system.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Buildings

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to Answer of 25 October 2021 to Question 56123 on Ministry of Defence: Buildings, what estimate he has made of when work will begin on removing the flammable cladding from the 27 high rise buildings on the defence estate that currently have combustible cladding on the exterior of the structure; and what the timeframe is for that work to be completed.

Jeremy Quin: MOD has identified 27 high rise buildings (defined as being 6 floors or over) that have an external walling system that contains combustible components. Investigative works are ongoing and remediation plans established for all buildings. Only one building is fully clad and removal of partial cladding may or may not be appropriate. Remediation plans already being enacted in respect of MHCLG guidance include internal works to improve fire compartmentation. The first building to complete remediation will be at HMS Nelson and will have replacement cladding, internal compartmentation and new fire doors with work scheduled to finish by March 2022. When remediation of the remaining buildings will complete is subject to ongoing work. Defence Fire and Rescue (DFR) have provided advice on how to operate the buildings to enable them to be safe to occupy. DFR, the Defence Fire Safety Regulator (DFSR) and Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) have agreed that occupation of the buildings can continue while the appropriate measures are implemented subject to maintaining and adhering to the conditions within the buildings Fire Risk Assessments. Fire Risk Assessments for these buildings are reassessed every year.

Armed Forces: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to Answer of 25 October 2021 to Question 56123 on Ministry of Defence: Buildings, how many armed forces personnel and their families are living in buildings with flammable cladding on the exterior of the structure that serve as forces accommodation.

Jeremy Quin: No Service Families live in high rise buildings (6 floors or over) that have been confirmed as having an external wall system that contains combustible components. The number of armed forces personnel who are accommodated in those Single Living Accommodation (SLA) buildings which have been confirmed as having an external wall system containing combustible components are shown in the following table. This information has been provided by the individual Front Line Commands. Number of BuildingsLocationNumber of Armed Forces Personnel (as of 29/10/2021)22HMNB Clyde24401Hyde Park Barracks2061Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, Birmingham1802HMS Nelson2001HMS Drake370  All of the above buildings are 6 floors or above. MOD has also identified a further 728 low rise buildings that may potentially have an external walling system that contains combustible materials. The list of buildings in scope is being verified, specialist consultants contracted to provide additional support and an industry partner is being commissioned to progress investigative works.

Ministry of Defence: Training

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2021 to Question 58730 on Ministry of Defence: Training, what the 81,306 civil servants in his Department that have received their refresher training for information security is as a proportion of total number of his Department's civil servants required to undergo the training.

Leo Docherty: It is taking time to collate the information needed to respond to the hon. Member's question, I will write to him when it is available.

Ministry of Defence: Buildings

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to Answer of 25 October 2021 to Question 56123 on Ministry of Defence: Buildings, how many of the 27 high rise buildings on the defence estate are currently undergoing work to remove the flammable cladding from the building exterior.

Jeremy Quin: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on Monday 1 November 2021 to Question 64543.Ministry of Defence: Buildings (docx, 15.9KB)

Ministry of Defence: Buildings

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 15 of his Department’s Climate Change and Sustainability Strategic Approach published on 30 March 2021, what target his Department has set for all defence buildings to be built to a net zero emissions standard.

Jeremy Quin: Following the recent publication of the Climate Change and Sustainability Strategic Approach and Strategy for Defence Infrastructure, Defence is considering how best to move forward with Defence building standards to meet the lowest practical level of carbon emission. As an important first step, we have already introduced new standards for Service Family Accommodation, Single Living Accommodation and Offices, that reflect forthcoming changes to Building Regulations based upon interim targets for carbon emissions. Defence will continue to work towards our ambition to achieve net zero emissions buildings pending further research on what measures would be most effective and appropriate to deliver net zero building standards.

Military Bases: Climate Change

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 14 of his Department’s Climate Change and Sustainability Strategic Approach published on 30 March 2021, what steps his Department has taken to improve the self-sufficiency of UK bases and camps on operational deployments.

Jeremy Quin: The Ministry of Defence is developing tailored site decarbonisation plans which incorporate renewable energy generation and storage in order to build resilience.This follows the successful collaboration with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and their Modern Energy Partners (MEP) Initiative which saw a number of pilot projects taken forward across the UK Defence estate.Defence continues to learn from our experience of building self-sufficiency into UK bases to apply to potential future overseas Camps and deliver this in line with the Strategic Approach.

Armed Forces: Climate Change

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 13 of his Department’s Climate Change and Sustainability Strategic Approach published on 30 March 2021, what steps he has taken to implement a climate lens into force development processes.

Jeremy Quin: Climate change is routinely considered throughout our force development process, from horizon scanning and wargaming, through to setting the requirements for major programmes. This ensures that we can anticipate and adapt to the challenges, and requirements, of a changing climate.

Defence: Climate Change

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 22 of his Department’s Climate Change and Sustainability Strategic Approach, published on 30 March 2021, what progress he has made on developing a set of defence climate assumptions for capability development.

Jeremy Quin: Work is ongoing to deliver the activities covered in the strategic approach. Our capability development processes already consider a broad set of environmental factors from the Development Concepts and Doctrine Centre research and analysis into climate change trends, and the implications from such, as part of their Global Strategic Trends series; to the Joint Requirements Oversight Committee now considering climate change and sustainability factors in the requirements setting.

Ministry of Defence: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 20 of his Department’s Climate Change and Sustainability Strategic Approach published on 30 March 2021, whether discussions have taken place between his officials and suppliers to identify ways to reduce emissions in the supply chain.

Jeremy Quin: The Department has regular engagements with its suppliers to build wider understanding on Defence’s approach to Net Zero, its current emission footprint and quantification methodology. Discussions are ongoing with the Defence supply chain to assess extant decarbonisation opportunities. Defence is able to evaluate the contribution suppliers make to sustainability as part of the competitive tender process under the Government's Social Value policy. As part of the cross Government approach, with effect from 30 September this year, the Ministry of Defence requires suppliers to publish their 'net zero' commitment as part of their carbon reduction plan as a pre-requisite to being able to bid for procurements advertised under the Public Contract Regulations. Very active consideration is being given to extend this to apply to procurements conducted under the Defence and Security Public Contract Regulations.

Ministry of Defence: Buildings

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to Answer of 25 October 2021 to Question 56123 on Ministry of Defence: Buildings, what the locations are of the 27 high rise buildings on the defence estate that currently have flammable cladding on the exterior of the building.

Jeremy Quin: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 1 November 2021 to Parliamentary Question 64541.Ministry of Defence: Buildings (docx, 16.8KB)

Ministry of Defence: Buildings

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when officials in his Department were made aware of the presence of flammable cladding on buildings in the Defence Estate.

Jeremy Quin: Ministry of Defence Officials were first made aware that one Single Living Accommodation block at HMS Nelson was not compliant with Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government guidance on cladding in July 2019.The Grenfell Tower fire occurred on 14 June 2017. In response to the concerns about building cladding and following advice from MHCLG, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) surveyed the defence estate to establish if any MOD-owned sleeping accommodation blocks over 18m in height were clad with Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) during July-August 2017. This found that MOD had no buildings that met the criteria or that were clad with ACM.In December 2018, the MHCLG issued an updated Advice Note which changed and extended the requirement, recommending that all buildings with any external cladding at a height in excess of 18m and containing residential accommodation should be assessed to ascertain the type of cladding used. All relevant buildings on the Defence Estate were re-surveyed (surveys completed in July 2019), which identified 28 buildings (subsequently reduced to 27 buildings) which had cladding and required further investigation as there was no evidence to confirm the external wall systems had a BR135 classification that was required under MHCLG Advice Note 14 to determine that the external wall system is safe.As part of this process Ministry of Defence Officials were first made aware that one Single Living Accommodation block at HMS Nelson was not compliant with MHCLG guidance on cladding in July 2019. In November 2019, Defence Fire and Rescue (DFR), the Defence Fire Safety Regulator (DFSR) and Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) agreed that the 28 buildings identified should have the cladding removed, and letters notifying of the risk and need for removal were sent to the relevant Heads of Establishments in December 2019. DFR provided advice on how to operate the buildings to enable them to be safe to occupy. DFR, DFSR and DIO agreed that occupation of the buildings could continue until the appropriate measures were implemented subject to maintaining and adhering to the conditions within the buildings Fire Risk Assessments. Subsequent advice from Fire Engineering Specialists confirmed that the buildings and cladding could be assessed to determine if the cladding needed to be removed. In Jan 2020 a consolidated advice note was issued by MHCLG, which advised all buildings containing sleeping accommodation (at any height) with external cladding should be assessed.

Department for Work and Pensions

Employment and Support Allowance: Work Capability Assessment

Peter Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support claimants who are awaiting a work capability assessment for contributions based employment and support allowance and whose assessment will not be able to take place before their award ends.

Chloe Smith: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit: Disability

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2021 to Question 33906 on Universal Credit: Disability, whether any assessment was subsequently made of the impact of removing the uplift to the standard allowance in Universal Credit on the financial security of disabled claimants.

Chloe Smith: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Employment and Support Allowance: Appeals

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employment and support allowance first-tier Tribunal appeals were lapsed between January and March 2021.

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employment and support allowance first-tier Tribunal appeals were lapsed between April and June 2021.

Chloe Smith: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit: Appeals

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for the period January to March 2021, how many universal credit first-tier Tribunal appeals were lapsed.

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for the period April to June 2021, how many universal credit first-tier Tribunal appeals were lapsed.

Chloe Smith: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants did not receive the £20 uplift as a result of the benefit cap in (a) the UK and (b) each parliamentary constituency.

David Rutley: The information is not available. This is because Universal Credit is a unitary concept. Whilst there are different elements in the determination of the gross entitlement, Universal Credit is paid as one single payment. As such it is not possible to describe the benefit cap deduction as a deduction from a particular increase to an element of the Universal Credit award, such as the £20 uplift. The benefit cap restores fairness between those receiving working age benefits and taxpayers in employment and encourages people to move into work, where possible.

Members: Correspondence

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to reply to the letter of 21 June 2021, resent on 8 September 2021, from the hon. Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys, regarding the Personal Independence Payment application process.

Guy Opperman: A reply was sent to the Honourable Member on 02/11 2021.

Universal Credit: Arts

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she had made of the financial and social implications of withdrawing the £20 uplift to the standard allowance of universal credit on people employed in the creative and performing arts sectors.

David Rutley: No assessment has been made of the impact of withdrawing the uplift on people employed in the creative and performing arts sectors.The Chancellor announced a temporary six-month extension to the £20 per week uplift at the Budget on 3 March to support households affected by the economic shock of Covid-19. Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the temporary uplift was part of a COVID support package worth a total of £407 billion in 2020-21 and 2021-22.There have been significant positive developments in the public health situation since the uplift was first introduced. With the success of the vaccine rollout and record job vacancies, it is right that our focus is on helping people back into work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty.Through our Plan for Jobs, we are targeting tailored support schemes of people of all ages to help them prepare for, get into and progress in work. These include: Kickstart, delivering tens of thousands of six-month work placements for Universal Credit claimants aged 16-24 at risk of unemployment; we have also recruited an additional 13,500 work coaches to provide more intensive support to find a job; and introduced Restart which provides 12 months’ intensive employment support to Universal Credit claimants who are unemployed for a year. Our Plan for Jobs interventions will support more than two million peopleThis Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, and continues to do so through many measures, including by spending over £111 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2021/22. This government is continuing to take action to support living standards by increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 effective from April 1st 2022, as well as reducing the taper rate in Universal Credit from 63% to 55% and increasing the value of work allowances by £500 per year, meaning Universal Credit claimants will be able to keep more of their benefit payments when they increase their earnings. The government is committed to supporting the creative and performing arts sectors, recently announcing a further £42m of investment in the creative industries at the Spending Review to help grow businesses in the creative industries and provide opportunity for people across the country. Additionally we will be funding the £800 million Live Events Reinsurance Scheme and an extension to the £500 million Film & TV Production Restart Scheme, to enable UK events and productions to thrive and plan with certainty.

Employment and Support Allowance: Work Capability Assessment

Peter Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of claimants who are due to reach the end of their 12 month entitlement to contributions-based employment and support allowance before the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments has completed its work capability assessment by the end of 2021.

Chloe Smith: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Personal Independence Payment

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of excluding children under the age of three from personal independence payment's higher rate mobility awards on those children and their families.

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of providing additional support for the mobility needs of severely disabled children under the age of three.

Chloe Smith: Children under the age of 16 can claim Child Disability Living Allowance (DLA). They are not eligible for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) which is a benefit for working age claimants. DLA is an extra-costs benefit available to those under the age of 16 who, due to a disability or health condition, have mobility issues and/or have needs which are substantially in excess of a child the same age without the disability or health condition. DLA is a contribution towards the extra costs associated with being disabled. As all younger children have substantial mobility needs, only children over the age of three can claim the mobility component of DLA. Under 3s, however, can still access other forms of support, including the care component of DLA. There are no current proposals to change the existing age restrictions for the mobility component of Child DLA.

Universal Credit

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to remove the escalation to a decision maker when awarding the allowance for the carer's element within universal credit, once a claimant has declared that they receive carer's allowance, in order to avoid the delay in the award of that payment.

Chloe Smith: For the majority of cases a referral to a Decision Maker is not required once a claimant has declared that they have relevant caring responsibility. However, if more than one claimant is receiving Carer’s Allowance or Carer Element for the same person, the carers should decide between them who will receive the additional amount for caring. If they cannot decide, the decision is referred to a Decision Maker.

Employment: Social Security Benefits

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time to process payments to support workers was in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Chloe Smith: Access to Work customers have 9 months within which to submit their request for payment, once costs have been incurred. Access to Work aim for customers to be paid within 10 days of receipt of claims and all supporting evidence. Unfortunately, we are not able to provide details of average processing times for payments to support workers as we do not hold this data.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions,  how many personal independence payment first-tier Tribunal appeals were lapsed between January and March 2021.

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for the period April to June 2021, how many personal independence payment first-tier Tribunal appeals lapsed.

Chloe Smith: The information on number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals lapsed during the requested periods is given below: PeriodNumber of PIP appeals lapsedJanuary – March 20217,020April – June 20215,310 Data has been rounded to the nearest 10. Totals are for Great Britain. PIP appeals data taken from the DWP PIP computer system’s management information. Therefore this data may differ from that held by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service for various reasons such as delays in data recording and other methodological differences in collating and preparing statistics.

Social Security Benefits: Mental Health Services

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department offers mental health support to claimants who have had their benefits stopped and have experienced problems with their mental health.

Chloe Smith: We have taken steps to increase staff awareness of the mental health difficulties that may be experienced by our customers, so they can direct them to further support at any stage of the claimant journey. For example, we introduced mental health training for UC Work Coaches in late 2017; this has better equipped them to identify customers’ mental health issues and take appropriate action. We have also made mental health training mandatory for all new Personal Independent Payment and Employment Support Allowance telephony staff. Every Jobcentre has a complex needs toolkit containing links to local organisations which can help and provide support. The toolkit was developed to support claimants with various complex needs, including by signposting them to appropriate organisations and services. Designated contacts from each jobcentre attended training sessions where they were taught how to use the toolkit. The toolkit is now covered within UC training for all new starters.

Universal Credit

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2021 to Question 33908 on Universal Credit, whether any assessment was subsequently made on the impact of removing the uplift to the standard allowance in Universal Credit on the financial security of young claimants.

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19 July 2021 to Question 32384 on Universal Credit, whether any ethnicity impact assessment was subsequently made on removing the uplift to the standard allowance in Universal Credit.

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19 July 2021 to Question 32383 on universal credit, whether a gender impact assessment was subsequently made on the removal of the uplift to the standard allowance of universal credit.

David Rutley: The Department has not completed an impact assessment of the removal of the Universal Credit temporary uplift as it was introduced as a temporary measure. The Chancellor announced a temporary six-month extension to the £20 per week uplift at the Budget on 3 March to support households affected by the economic shock of Covid-19. Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the temporary uplift was part of a COVID support package worth a total of £407 billion in 2020-21 and 2021-22.There have been significant positive developments in the public health situation since the uplift was first introduced. With the success of the vaccine rollout and record job vacancies, it is right that our focus is on helping people back into work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty.Through our Plan for Jobs, we are targeting tailored support schemes of people of all ages to help them prepare for, get into and progress in work. These include: Kickstart, delivering tens of thousands of six-month work placements for Universal Credit claimants aged 16-24 at risk of unemployment; we have also recruited an additional 13,500 work coaches to provide more intensive support to find a job; and introduced Restart which provides 12 months’ intensive employment support to Universal Credit claimants who are unemployed for a year. Our Plan for Jobs interventions will support more than two million peopleThis Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, and continues to do so through many measures, including by spending over £111 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2021/22. This government is continuing to take action to support living standards by increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 effective from April 1st 2022, as well as reducing the taper rate in Universal Credit from 63% to 55% and increasing the value of work allowances by £500 per year, meaning Universal Credit claimants will be able to keep more of their benefit payments when they increase their earnings. We recognise that some people may require extra support over the winter as we enter the final stages of recovery, which is why vulnerable households across the country will now be able to access a new £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund will provide £421 million to help vulnerable people in England. The Barnett Formula will apply in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million (£41m for the Scottish Government, £25m for the Welsh Government and £14m for the NI Executive), for a total of £500 million.

Universal Credit: Food Banks

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has untaken an impact assessment to estimate how many claimants may potentially need to use food banks in the context of the decision to end the £20 uplift to universal credit.

David Rutley: No such assessment has been made. Food banks are independent charitable organisations and there is no consistent and accurate measure of food bank usage. We take the issue of food insecurity seriously, which is why we added internationally used food security questions to the Family Resources Survey in 2019/20 and published the data in March this year. We recognise the data limitations in this area, so from April 2021, we have introduced a set of questions to the Family Resources Survey (FRS) on food bank usage. The first results of these questions are expected to be published in March 2023, subject to usual quality assurances.The Chancellor announced a temporary six-month extension to the £20 per week uplift at the Budget on 3 March to support households affected by the economic shock of Covid-19. Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the temporary uplift was part of a COVID support package worth a total of £407 billion in 2020-21 and 2021-22.There have been significant positive developments in the public health situation since the uplift was first introduced. With the success of the vaccine rollout and record job vacancies, it is right that our focus is on helping people back into work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty.Through our Plan for Jobs, we are targeting tailored support schemes of people of all ages to help them prepare for, get into and progress in work. These include: Kickstart, delivering tens of thousands of six-month work placements for Universal Credit claimants aged 16-24 at risk of unemployment; we have also recruited an additional 13,500 work coaches to provide more intensive support to find a job; and introduced Restart which provides 12 months’ intensive employment support to Universal Credit claimants who are unemployed for a year. Our Plan for Jobs interventions will support more than two million peopleThis Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, and continues to do so through many measures, a including by spending over £111 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2021/22. This government is continuing to take action to support living standards by increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 effective from 1st April 2022, as well as reducing the taper rate in Universal Credit from 63% to 55% and increasing the value of work allowances by £500 per year, meaning Universal Credit claimants will be able to keep more of their benefit payments when they increase their earnings.Additionally, we recognise that some people may require extra support over the winter as we enter the final stages of recovery, which is why vulnerable households across the country will now be able to access a new £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund will provide £421 million to help vulnerable people in England and allocations to individual local authorities are set out below. The Barnett Formula will apply in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million (£41m for the Scottish Government, £25m for the Welsh Government and £14m for the NI Executive), for a total of £500 million.

Workplace Pensions: Hendon

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been auto-enrolled in workplace pensions in Hendon constituency since 2012.

Guy Opperman: Since 2012, in the Hendon constituency, approximately 14,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension and 3,530 employers have declared compliance with their automatic enrolment duties. This data is produced and updated by The Pensions Regulator each month and published on its website which can be accessed via the following weblink:   https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests

Pension Funds: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what contributions she plans to make at COP26 to help pension funds contribute to delivering net zero.

Guy Opperman: The UK was the first country in the world both to make climate disclosures in line with the Task Force on Climate- Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations mandatory for occupational pensions schemes, and to consult on measures to require pension schemes to measure and report their alignment with the Paris Agreement on climate change. The Secretary of State therefore intends to play a very active role in encouraging other countries to follow this precedent and to commit to TCFD/Paris aligned reporting for their pension sector at COP26. The Secretary of State will also be introducing a session to focus on mobilising finance to fight climate change in emerging markets and developing countries, which will be crucial in the fight against climate change.

Pension Funds: Environment Protection

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support pension funds to invest in green infrastructure.

Guy Opperman: The government has been a global champion in terms of promoting safer, better, greener pensions. On 1 October 2021, Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures regulations and statutory guidance came into force, requiring trustees to consider, assess and report on the financial risks and opportunities of climate change within their portfolios. We are also doing more to remove barriers to investment in green infrastructure and other illiquid assets. As announced in the recent Budget, we will consult on possible changes to the regulatory charge cap for defined contribution pension schemes used for automatic enrolment. These changes could help unlock access to investment in important sectors of the UK economy, including green infrastructure, whilst continuing to protect savers.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Air Pollution

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of unclean air on the health and well-being of children.

Jo Churchill: Air pollution poses the biggest environmental threat to public health and children are particularly vulnerable to its effects. I and my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs work closely with our counterparts in other Departments on issues related to air pollution, including on understanding and reducing the harms it causes. The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) provides independent advice to Government departments and agencies on how air pollution impacts on health, including the health of children (published reports). Defra continues to work across Government, including with DHSC and the new UK Health Security Agency, to understand the relationship between air quality and health. The improvement of air quality and reduction in associated health harms remains a top priority for the Government. The Government is therefore taking a range of actions to tackle air pollution, including through the landmark Environment Bill and by implementing the Clean Air Strategy. Defra’s Air Quality Grant Programme provides funding to local authorities, for projects in local communities to tackle air pollution and reduce emissions affecting schools, businesses and residents. This year we have awarded over £5 million, of which over £1 million has been awarded to projects specifically targeted at making improvements for children. Next year £9 million of funding will be awarded, of which at least £1 million will be dedicated to projects to improve public awareness in local communities about the risks of air pollution. Particular focus will be given to projects that deliver measures that focus on vulnerable groups, including children.

Export Health Certificates

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to (a) secure Part 1 listed status for the purposes of EU Pet Travel Regulations and (b) incentivise the veterinary profession to (i) minimise the cost of Animal Health Certificates and (ii) take the necessary qualifications to issue those certificates.

Jo Churchill: We are seeking agreement from the European Commission on awarding Great Britain ‘Part 1’ listed status and recognition of the UK’s tapeworm-free status. Achieving these would alleviate the most onerous pet travel rules for all travellers and we see no valid animal health reason for these to not be granted. We have one of the most rigorous pet checking regimes in Europe to protect our biosecurity and have submitted a detailed technical case setting this out and are continuing to engage with the EU on a workable solution. Animal Health Certificates (AHCs) fees are set by veterinary practices and are a private matter between individual practices and their clients and neither the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the UK regulator of the veterinary profession, nor Defra intervenes in the level of fees that are charged. We are engaging with the British Veterinary Association to address concerns on veterinary capacity to complete and issue AHCs. We are working to ensure that the process of issuing pet travel documentation is as efficient as possible. The AHC format is mandated by the EU, but the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has taken steps to help Official Veterinarians (OVs) complete them including the development of a model certificate and accompanying printable guidance. APHA has publicised the availability of the required training course on completing AHCs and has made it easily available on-line which can be accessed by all qualified OVs at any time.

Pets: Tagging

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to make checking pet microchip databases as efficient as possible.

Jo Churchill: We are carrying out a post-implementation review of the Microchipping of Dogs (England) Regulations that came into effect in 2016, which will consider whether improvements can be made to the current regime, including the operation of the databases. We will come forward with proposals shortly. A public consultation on the 2016 Regulations will take place following this. This is a devolved matter and these developments relate to the situation applying in England.

Pets: Tagging

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of establishing a single pet microchip database.

Jo Churchill: Database operators are commercial enterprises which offer a range of services and provide choice for pet owners. We are confident that improvements can be made to the current regime. We are exploring the possibility of creating a single point of access to compliant databases for authorised users, such as vets, police and local authorities. We will come forward with our proposals shortly. This is a devolved matter and these developments relate to the situation applying in England.

Pets: Tagging

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Government has spent on campaigns to encourage the microchipping of pets in each of the last three years.

Jo Churchill: The Government is committed to microchipping pets. There has not been Government spending on specific campaigns to encourage microchipping of cats and dogs in in the last three years. However, the Government promotes microchipping in the statutory codes of practice for the welfare of cats, dogs and horses. In addition, the Government’s Petfished campaign, which encourages responsible pet acquisition, advises people to ask whether a cat or dog is microchipped before buying. The Microchipping of Dogs (England) Regulations came into effect in 2016 and we launched a public consultation on compulsory cat and dog microchipping and scanning in England in December 2020 which highlighted the importance of cat and dog microchipping. The Equine Identification (England) Regulations 2018 require that all equines in England (except those semi-wild ponies permanently resident in certain designated areas) must be microchipped from 1 October 2020. Government comms campaigns were launched in July and September 2020 to remind those in England with horses born before 1 July 2009 (which were provided with a grace period in the interim) of the legal requirement to have them microchipped by 1 October 2020. Details of the cost of these campaigns is not however available. This is a devolved matter and this response relates to the situation applying in England.

Fireworks: Animal Welfare

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of fireworks on (a) domestic pets and (b) livestock.

Jo Churchill: Defra understands concerns about the distress fireworks can cause to domestic pets and livestock. Our assessment is that noisy fireworks have the capacity to cause distress to pets, livestock and wildlife. This is one of the reasons that there is a noise level limit of 120 decibels on fireworks for home use. It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to cause an animal any unnecessary suffering and this includes through the misuse of fireworks. The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act came into force on 29 June 2021 and has increased the maximum penalty for cruelty to animals to five years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. The Government also publishes a statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs, which applies to all owners/keepers of dogs and which encourages dog owners/keepers to avoid exercising dogs in extreme weather or during times when fireworks could be let off. Further advice about pets and fireworks can be found on the Blue Cross website, here: https://www.bluecross.org.uk/pet-advice/fireworks-and-pets Fireworks should not be set off near livestock or close to buildings that house livestock, or near to horses in fields. Anyone planning a firework display in rural areas should warn neighbouring farmers. Fireworks used for professionally organised displays, classified as F4, are available for sale only to people who have undertaken an accredited course of training in pyrotechnics and who hold relevant professional insurance. It is up to local councils to decide whether or not to put on public displays. We would encourage livestock owners who are concerned about planned firework displays to contact the organisers to see if any compromises can be made, such as using less noisy fireworks.

Dangerous Dogs

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to make dog on dog attacks a criminal offence.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to penalise dangerous dog owners in the event that their animals cause harm to other pets.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of amending the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to make dog on dog attacks a criminal offence.

Jo Churchill: The Government takes the issue of dog attacks extremely seriously and is determined to crack down on irresponsible dog ownership.Under section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, it is an offence to allow a dog to be dangerously out of control in any place. The law does not specifically exclude an attack by a dog on another animal from the offence of allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control. In March 2018, the Government wrote to all police forces and local authorities about the range of powers and measures available in relation to dangerous dogs, specifically reminding all parties that it applied to attacks on animals as well as peopleAdditionally, Section 2 of the Dogs Act 1871 also allows for a complaint to be made to a magistrates' court by any individual or authority that a dog is "dangerous and not kept under proper control". The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 includes specific measures to enable the police and local authorities to tackle irresponsible dog ownership before a dog attack occurs. The main tool to tackle irresponsible dog ownership is the Community Protection Notice (CPN). These notices can be issued by local authority officers or the police on dog owners, or anyone temporarily in charge of the dog at the time, whose dogs are behaving in an unruly way. To breach a CPN is a criminal offence and could lead to a significant penalty. To that end we are encouraging police forces across the country to use these tools.Defra has also commissioned research in collaboration with Middlesex University into ways to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible ownership among dog owners. The research considers different approaches and the effectiveness of current dog control measures. Defra is giving careful consideration to the report and its recommendations. The report will be published later this year.

Waste Disposal: Crime

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 in relation to the regulatory powers afforded to local councils to enforce waste crimes and remove rubbish.

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the regulatory powers afforded to local councils to clear dumped rubbish and waste on shared land that has no defined legal ownership or occupation and is not public land.

Jo Churchill: Waste crime damages the environment and blights communities. The Government is committed to tackling this criminal activity and has significantly bolstered local authority enforcement powers in recent years as a result. Councils now have powers to issue fixed penalty notices for fly-tipping and stronger powers to seize and destroy vehicles involved in waste crime. Waste collection authorities can require the occupier or owner of land to remove any illegally deposited controlled waste or to take steps to eliminate the effects of the waste. We will go further - including measures in the Environment Bill to combat waste crime through better access to evidence and improved powers of entry. Our new electronic waste tracking measures and our planned reform to waste carriers, brokers and dealers licensing will make it harder than ever for waste criminals to escape responsibility for their actions. Defra has made no further assessment of the effectiveness of the powers afforded to local authorities in this respect. Local authorities are responsible for keeping land in their control clear of waste. Crown authorities and others have similar responsibilities while landowners are responsible for the land they own. HM Land Registry publish ownership information on most registered land.

Carbon Emissions

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what emissions reductions his Department’s existing and proposed policies deliver in the 4th, 5th and 6th carbon budget periods.

Jo Churchill: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport on 18 October 2021, PQ UIN 57322. Note: NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution) is the midpoint of CB5.

Agriculture: Carbon Emissions

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the projected emissions are for Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use over the period of the 4th, 5th and 6th carbon budget periods.

Jo Churchill: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Ludlow on 18 October 2021, PQ UIN 56291. Note: NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution) is the midpoint of CB5.

Waste Disposal

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of rogue operators within the waste collection sector.

Jo Churchill: The department does not produce estimates of the numbers of rogue operators in the waste collection sector. The Environment Agency recently published a survey of waste crime which provides useful information (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-waste-crime-survey-report-2021-findings-and-analysis)

Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce the amount of PFAS chemicals impacting (a) environmental and (b) human health.

Jo Churchill: Defra and the Environment Agency are working with other regulators, including the UK Health Security Agency, to improve understanding of the chemical risks posed by per-fluorinated chemicals (PFAS) and respond appropriately. Defra and the Environment Agency have initiated a coordinated programme of work to help us assess levels of PFAS occurring in the environment, their sources and potential risks to inform future policy and regulatory approaches. The scope of the programme includes international engagement to understand approaches being taken across the world; collecting environmental data in England; developing new analytical methods; working with industry to assess risks of PFAS produced in the UK; identifying current and legacy uses and mapping potential sources; river catchment investigations; water company investigations to understand sources to sewer and wastewater treatment options. As part of the UK REACH Work Programme for 2021-22, the Environment Agency and HSE, at Defra’s request, are investigating the risk posed by PFAS through a Regulatory Management Options Analysis (RMOA) which will consider how best to manage any identified risks.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Carbon Emissions

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has set an emissions reductions plan.

Jo Churchill: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Ludlow on 18 October 2021, PQ UIN 56296.

Waste: Carbon Emissions

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the projected emissions are from waste over the period of the 4th, 5th and 6th budget periods.

Jo Churchill: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport on 18 October 2021, PQ UIN 57324. Note: NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution) is the midpoint of CB5.

Fishing Vessels: Marine Environment

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many fishing vessels have been fly shooting in UK waters in the (a) southern North Sea and (b) English Channel in 2021; and of those vessels, how many (i) are foreign registered and (ii) have been able to demonstrate previous a track record of using this equipment in the same areas.

Victoria Prentis: In 2021 there were nine UK vessels fishing with fly seining equipment in the southern North Sea and the English Channel in the International Council for Exploration of the Sea (ICES) areas 7d and 7e (these area codes refer to ICES Rectangles which are a sub-division of the sea surface area each approximately 30 nautical miles by 30 nautical miles in size; ICES Rectangle is the highest resolution of spatial landings data available for all UK fishing vessels). European vessels with fly seining equipment are listed on the public European Commission fleet register. Under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, licensing arrangements in the Territorial waters between the UK and the EU were based on vessels that were active in the respective zones during the reference period. This track record arrangement is not gear specific.

Ivory Act 2018

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish the results of the consultation on expanding the range of species covered by the Ivory Act 2018.

Rebecca Pow: The consultation on extending the Ivory Act 2018 to other species ran from 17 July 2021 to 11 September 2021. We are currently analysing the responses to this consultation. We will publish a summary of responses and the Government response in due course.

Sewage: Rivers

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance he has issued to Ofwat on accelerating the ending of routine discharge of raw sewage into English rivers by water companies.

Rebecca Pow: Earlier this year the Government consulted on a set of strategic priorities for Ofwat, the independent economic regulator for the water industry. The draft strategic policy statement (SPS) sets out the direction from the Government that water companies must take steps to "significantly reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows". This is the first time any government has set out this expectation for water companies to prioritise their reliance on storm overflows to discharge sewage. The SPS strongly influences investment decisions and is one of the Government's key tools in driving action from water companies. The Government expects to publish the final SPS in early 2022. Government has also announced that it will put the direction set out in the SPS on a statutory footing with a new duty on water companies to progressively reduce impacts of sewage discharges.

Sewage: Rivers

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he expects water companies to end the routine discharge of raw sewage into English rivers.

Rebecca Pow: Eliminating harm from storm overflows is a Government priority, but we know that it will involve significant change and take time to achieve. The age of our Victorian sewerage system means a complete elimination of discharges from storm overflows would be extremely challenging and require full separation of pipes across the country, alongside other additional infrastructure. Initial assessments suggest this would cost over £150 billion according to the Storm Overflows Evidence Project, commissioned by the Storm Overflows Taskforce. The full research report will be published shortly.However, this does not mean that things cannot improve significantly. We are continuing to work with the industry to make sure that storm overflows are properly controlled and to reduce the harm caused by their discharges. This Government has been clear that the current failure of water companies to reduce adequately sewage discharges is unacceptable.Between 2020 and 2025 water companies will invest £7.1 billion to protect and improve the environment. This includes the £5.2 billion invested through the Water Industry National Environment Programme. Of this, £3.1 billion will be invested in in storm overflow improvements.However, we have made it crystal clear to water companies that they must take further action to significantly reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows as a priority. Our draft Strategic Policy Statement to Ofwat sets out for the first time that we expect water companies to take the steps required to "significantly reduce…. storm overflows." We have also announced that we will put that instruction on a statutory footing with a new duty on water companies to progressively reduce the impact of sewage discharges.Our Environment Bill also includes the following new duties directly on water companies to:publish statutory Drainage and Sewerage Management Plans, for the first time, setting out how they will reduce overflows, as well as detailing other improvements, and provides the power for government to direct companies if these plans are inadequate;monitor water quality up and downstream of areas potentially affected by discharges;publish data on storm overflow operation on an annual basis;publish near real time information - within one hour- on the operation of storm overflows.We will not hesitate to use our powers to hold companies to account. Earlier this year Southern Water was handed a record-breaking £90 million fine, and Thames Water was fined £4 million and £2.3 million for separate incidents.New amendments have been tabled that place duties on the Government to publish a plan by September 2022 to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows and reduce their impact. There is also a duty to report to Parliament on progress on implementing the plan. We will also produce a report outlining further evidence regarding elimination of Storm Overflows by September 2022. We expect this to drive action to tackle this issue in a shorter timeframe.Truly reducing harm from storm overflows will require a collaborative approach between many actors. To this end, in August 2020 I established the Storm Overflows Taskforce to bring together key stakeholders from the water industry, regulators, and environmental NGOs, with a long-term goal to eliminate harm from storm overflows. The Taskforce has already taken steps to improve monitoring and transparency and has commissioned research to gather evidence on the costs, benefits and feasibility of different options.

Rivers: Safety

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to improve the safety of rivers.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take further steps to ensure that services to improve river safety are adequately supported and funded to meet risk and demand.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency encourages safe and responsible recreation on inland and coastal water and is responsible for safety on waterside assets it owns, operates or occupies (such as locks, weirs and bridges). It undertakes a comprehensive programme of public safety risk assessments of those assets and regularly inspects them to ensure that the provided risk control measures are well maintained. The Environment Agency has published advice on how to stay safe while visiting waterways: www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-safe-around-water. It is also a member of the National Water Safety Forum. Water safety is a vital life skill, which is why it is a mandatory part of the curriculum for Physical Education at primary school. The Department for Education recognises that children have missed out on opportunities to learn to swim due to COVID-19 restrictions and is working closely with Swim England and other swimming and water safety organisations to support pupils returning safely to swimming and promoting water safety education. The Fire National Resilience Assurance Team (NRAT) in Merseyside is funded by the Home Office. NRAT maintains and supports the Defra-funded Flood Rescue National Asset Register. The Flood Rescue National Asset Register comprises of specialist flood rescue teams from both Fire and Rescue Services and the voluntary sector. These teams are available to be deployed across the country to aid rescue efforts during a flood incident. The National Fire Chiefs Council is also a member of the National Water Safety Forum, and Fire and Rescue Services continues to support in raising public awareness in water safety.

Food: Prices

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Food and Drink Federation's report entitled Eating into household budgets: the Government’s recipe for food price inflation, published on 20 July 2021, what assessment his Department has made of the analysis in that report on the cost of government regulation for families and the cost of food over the next three years.

Victoria Prentis: No analysis has been made of the Food and Drink Federation’s report. All Government regulations are subject to an impact assessment that compares the costs and benefits of the change proposed. This allows the Government to take a balanced view on the benefit of implementing that regulation for the overall good of society. The Government is wholly committed to supporting people on lower incomes and consistently supporting the lowest-paid families including through increasing the living wage and by spending over £111 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2021/22. Regulation does not necessarily translate into price rises for consumers including families. Defra modelling shows that consumer food prices depend on a range of factors including agri-food import prices, domestic agricultural prices, domestic labour & manufacturing costs and Sterling exchange rates. Defra monitors food prices on a monthly and annual basis using the ONS Consumer Price Index with Housing costs. Later this year the Government will publish the UK Food Security Report which will bring together reported and publicly available data on food security, including at a household level. As part of the forthcoming Government Food Strategy, Defra is working closely with other relevant departments across Whitehall to set out a plan to ensure the food system is sustainable and affordable, supporting people and families to live healthy lives, while protecting animal health and welfare.

Meat Products: Shortages

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of potential retail shortages of (a) semi-processed and (b) processed meat products over winter 2021-22; and what discussions he has had with suppliers and retailers on those potential shortages.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of potential retail shortages of ready meals over winter 2021-22; and what discussions he has had with suppliers and retailers on those potential shortages.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of potential retail shortages of baked goods and baking ingredients over winter 2021-22; and what discussions he has had with suppliers and retailers on those potential shortages.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of potential retail shortages of (a) soft drinks, (b) bottled water and (c) alcoholic beverages over winter 2021-22; and what discussions he has had with suppliers and retailers on those potential shortages.

Victoria Prentis: The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Our high degree of food security is built on access to a range of sources, including robust domestic supply chains, as well as imports through stable export routesDefra has well established ways of working with the industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement with manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption across different product groups in food supply chains.

Morrisons: Takeovers

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of the Morrisons by US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice on food security.

Victoria Prentis: Defra has no reason to believe this takeover will affect food security. Defra has extensive, regular and ongoing engagement with retailers in preparedness for, and response to, risks to food supply chains that may arise.The Government has published plans to require higher standards of transparency and oversight in the largest private companies in the UK – recognising how important they are to their staff and suppliers.

Wool: Prices

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with British Wool on wool prices.

Victoria Prentis: British Wool is a public body who work on behalf of the wool industry to collect, grade, monitor, market and sell British wool to the international wool textile industry. Defra officials meet regularly with British Wool, who share regular reports on auction sales and wool values. Although prices fell below 50p per kg for the first time from March 2020 onwards following the outbreak of Covid 19 they have recently recovered to 77.5p per kg.

Home Office

Fireworks

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support her Department is offering to local police services to help tackle the use of illegal fireworks.

Kit Malthouse: There is a comprehensive legislative framework in place which provides Local Authority Trading Standards and the Police with the powers to control the sale, availability and use of fireworks, as well as setting a curfew and noise limit. Current legislation restricts retailers to only selling consumer fireworks during certain seasonal celebrations and they may only supply fireworks outside these periods if they obtain a license from their local licensing authority.Local Authority Trading Standards will work with retailers to ensure fireworks which they sell are safe. They also have powers to enforce against those who place non-compliant fireworks on the market, including those imported illegally or via the internet, or those selling fireworks without an appropriate license.

Money Laundering

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what total value of (a) fines have been imposed and (b) assets confiscated as a result of action taken by the National Crime Agency in relation to money laundering and other economic crime in each of the last five years.

Damian Hinds: The National Crime Agency do not issue or collect court fines.For assets confiscated by the National Crime Agency see the Annual Asset Recovery Statistical Bulletin 2020/21 published in September, which contains data going back to 2016. This is available here: Asset recovery statistical bulletin: financial years ending 2016 to 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

National Crime Agency: Staff

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the (a) budget, (b) headcount, and (c) the number of accreditations issued to financial investigators for each year in the last five years by the National Crime Agency's Proceeds of Crime Centre.

Kit Malthouse: (a) budgetThe total spending of the Proceeds of Crime Centre (POCC) over in each of the last five financial years is in the table below. This covers a range of costs, for example pay, overtime, travel, training delivery costs. Financial year2017/182018/192019/202020/212021/22 (year to date[1])£982,365962,650874,568937,167501,138 (b) headcount The headcount of the POCC now, and at the end of the preceding four financial years, and the year to date is in the table below.  March 2018March 2019March 2020March 2021October 2021Staff in post1415161820 (c) number of accreditations The number of new accreditations given to Financial Investigators (FIs) by the POCC is set out below. The POCC also provides accredited FIs with Continuous Professional Development assurance and advice. In addition the POCC does a variety of work beyond new accreditations for FIs, including accreditations to non-FIs, providing non-accredited training, and acting as expert advisers across Law Enforcement. Financial year2017/182018/192019/202020/212021/22 (year to date[2])Financial Investigators accredited201241151119140Confiscators* accredited143118835147 *Confiscator accreditation can be gained by experienced FIs in order to hold additional powers.  [1] As of the 26th October 2021[2] As of 28th October 2021

Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide details of the outstanding issues preventing the UK's ratification of the Istanbul Convention; and what steps the Government is taking to bring forward (a) legislative or (b) other proposals to enable the ratification of that convention.

Rachel Maclean: The UK signed the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) in 2012, signalling our strong commitment to tackling violence against women and girls.This Government remains committed to ratifying the Convention as soon as possible.

Windrush Compensation Scheme: Offenders

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her letter to the Home Affairs Committee of 16 February 2021, in how many instances a claimant to the Windrush Compensation Scheme has had their compensation award reduced or declined on the basis of previous criminality.

Priti Patel: Fewer than 10 claimants have had their compensation award for Impact on Life declined or reduced because of previous criminality.All decisions to withhold or reduce compensation for Impact on Life due to previous criminality are signed off by Ministers.

Fraud

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to (a) reduce incidences of fraud and (b) increase the rate at which reported fraud cases are closed.

Damian Hinds: The Government takes fraud very seriously. Victims of fraud suffer both serious financial and emotional harm. The money fraudsters steal can go on to fund other serious and organised crimes and even terrorism.This is why the Home Office is working with other departments, law enforcement and the private sector to better protect the public and businesses from fraud, reduce the impact on victims, and ensure fraudsters have no space to operate. This includes the development of a new Fraud Action Plan, the relaunch of the Joint Fraud Taskforce and publication of charters with the retail banking, telecommunications and accountancy sectors.We need to ensure that victims of fraud have the confidence to come forward and know that their case will be dealt with and closed with the best outcome possible. With this in mind, we recognise the need to boost local police capacity and strengthen our criminal justice system to ensure we put victims first. As part of the Police Uplift Programme to recruit an additional 20,000 officers by 2023, we have prioritised more investigators in the City of London Police to fulfil their role as a world class fraud specialist force. We have also channelled additional resource into the Regional Organised Crime Unit network to work on a host of serious and organised crime threats including fraud.

Interpol: Public Appointments

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received on the process and candidates for the selection of the next President of Interpol.

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what due diligence is in place to enable Ministers to assess the suitability of the candidates for the post of President of Interpol.

Damian Hinds: The INTERPOL General Secretariat (IPSG) regularly updates member countries with the list of candidates nominated for the Presidency. The decision on who to support will be based on a thorough assessment of the merits of each candidate.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will replicate the use of Secure QR code technology used in the Government’s Covid certification for EU citizens who wish to have printed proof of their immigration status under the EU Settlement Scheme.

Kevin Foster: Home Office officials have already met with the 3million group to discuss the use of a QR code system for this purpose.We are actively considering the feasibility of the suggested approach and will respond more fully to the suggestion in due course.

Gender: Registration

Mark Jenkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she will take to ensure the recording of biological natal sex on all records in her Department's remit.

Kevin Foster: The General Register Office records sex as part of a birth registration. Her Majesty’s Passport Office currently use the sex recorded on the customer’s birth certificate to record the customer’s gender on the passport and in passport records.The Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 and associated regulations prescribe the information to be recorded in a birth entry.

Police: Females

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis' advice that if women are stopped by a plain-clothed police officer that they are to remain with that officer while they are being remotely verified.

Kit Malthouse: The vast majority of police officers carry out their vital duty to protect the public and keep people safe with integrity, but the Government and policing understands the concern around stops by lone officers following recent events. Forces haven taken steps to ensure that officers are prepared to provide reassurance to women if stopped by a lone, plain-clothed officer, including officers being prepared to provide verification in addition to warrant cards where requested. Operational delivery of these steps is a matter for the Chief Constable and will depend on local systems.

Afghanistan: Refugees

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to communicate updates on the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme to people in Afghanistan.

Victoria Atkins: Through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), the UK will relocate up to 20,000 people at risk, including women and girls and minority groups, so they can rebuild their lives in safety.The scheme is not yet open. However, the first to be resettled through this scheme will be some of those who arrived in the UK under the evacuation programme, which included individuals who were considered to be at particular risk – including women’s rights activists, prosecutors and journalists.There will not be a formal Home Office owned application process for the ACRS. Instead, eligible people will be prioritised and referred for resettlement to the UK.Further information on the eligibility, prioritisation and referral of people for the ACRS is set out in the policy statement published on gov.uk on 13 September, available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-resettlement-and-immigration-policy-statement.All updates on the ACRS can be found on gov.uk at Afghan citizens resettlement scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Further communications will be published in due course.I provided an update to the House of Commons in a Dear Colleague letter last week and I will continue to update the House at regular intervals.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Reviews

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the purpose is of his review of his Department.

Eddie Hughes: Levelling up is at the heart of the Government's agenda. Levelling up means empowering local leaders and communities to drive real change; boosting living standards, particularly where they are lower; spreading opportunity and improving public services, particularly where they are weaker. The Secretary of State is therefore looking at a number of areas of the department’s work to ensure it reflects these priorities.

Landlords: Licensing

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 19 July 2021 to Question 32407, on Landlords: Licensing, if he will provide a timescale for a decision to be made on the renewal of the Liverpool Council Selective Licensing application submitted in February 2021.

Eddie Hughes: We have received Liverpool City Council’s application for a selective licensing scheme. Each application is assessed on its merits against the statutory criteria. Timings can be affected by the complexity of an application and whether further information is required. We will update on the outcome of the application in due course.

Rented Housing: Reform

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will set out his timetable for the introduction of the Renters Reform Bill.

Eddie Hughes: The Government remains committed to building back fairer and delivering a better deal for renters. We will publish a White Paper in 2022, that will set out a package of reforms that create a fairer private rented sector that works for both tenants and landlords. We are undertaking robust and structured stakeholder engagement working with the sector to inform this while also learning from the pandemic and its impact on the sector. We will bring forward legislation in due course and when parliamentary time allows.

Planning: Carbon Emissions

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of including a net zero test in any planning reforms.

Eddie Hughes: The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities are considering how the planning system can further support our commitment to reaching net zero. As set out in the Net Zero Strategy, we will make sure that the reformed planning system supports our efforts to combat climate change and help bring greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.   As part of our programme of planning reform we intend to review the National Planning Policy Framework to make sure it contributes to climate change mitigation and adaptation as fully as possible.

Regional Planning and Development: Environment Protection

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the role of local civic pride projects in the levelling-up agenda; and if he will bring forward plans for funding park, public realm and local environmental improvements, as part of that agenda.

Eddie Hughes: Levelling up is about empowering local leaders and communities to seize their own destiny; boosting living standards, particularly where they are lower; spreading opportunity and improving public services, particularly where they are weak; and restoring local pride in places across the UK. As the most recent part of this agenda, we are investing £9 million to level up urban green spaces across the UK through the Levelling Up Parks Fund. Grants will be given to, and administered by, local authorities, to deliver new green spaces in over 100 of the neighbourhoods most deprived of green space.

Regional Planning and Development: Finance

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many bids were submitted to the first round of funding of the Levelling Up Fund.

Neil O'Brien: The first round of the Levelling Up fund will invest £1.7 billion in 107 local infrastructure projects across the UK. Citizens across the UK can expect to see projects getting underway from early 2022.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund: Cornwall

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much funding Cornwall will receive through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25.

Neil O'Brien: The Budget and SR launched the UKSPF, worth over £2.6 billion, to help people access new opportunities in places of need.The UKSPF will ramp up to £1.5 billion in 2024-25 and total funding will at a minimum match the size of EU funds in all nations, each year. As the Prime Minister previously said, the Government will also match EU funding levels in Cornwall.Further details on the UKSPF will be published in due course.

Business: Rents

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will make an estimate of the total amount of rent arrears owed by British businesses as at October 2021.

Neil O'Brien: Many businesses have not yet fully recovered from the impact of the pandemic, particularly in vulnerable sectors such as hospitality and retail Government has committed to ringfencing rent arrears accrued by businesses affected by enforced closures during the pandemic, and introduce a system of binding arbitration to be used as a last resort if landlords and tenants cannot come to a resolution. Full detail will be announced in due course.

Regional Planning and Development: Denton and Reddish

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans he has to increase investment in jobs, skills and transport infrastructure in parts of the Denton and Reddish constituency; and if he will meet with the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish to discuss plans to level-up communities within the Denton and Reddish constituency.

Neil O'Brien: Spending Review demonstrated Government's commitment to Levelling up by supporting community priorities. £1.7 billion was confirmed for the first 107 successful places within the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund. The Greater Manchester area will receive £112.8 million of this first wave, including £19.87 million to regenerate Ashton Town Hall, bordering the Honourable Gentleman’s constituency.Government recognises that local transport networks, particularly public transport, have been a weakness holding back the productivity of city regions outside London. That's why we have created City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS), providing major city regions with the freedom to address local challenges and improve services. At the Spending Review, we announced £5.7 billion of CRSTS funding for 8 city regions, with Greater Manchester, including Denton and Reddish, receiving the largest single allocation of £1.07 billion. Over the coming months, Transport for Greater Manchester will begin to develop its programme business cases to confirm how their portion of the fund will be used.Also announced at the Budget was Restoring Your Railways funding to reinstate a passenger rail line between Ashton-under-Lyne and Stockport, which the Honourable Gentleman personally campaigned for. I congratulate him on the success of this campaign and look forward to seeing these proposals develop over the coming months.

Housing: Finance

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 p107, if he will provide a detailed breakdown of the funding that makes up the £24 billion for housing stated in that Review.

Christopher Pincher: At the Spending Review, the Government announced nearly £24 billion for housing between 2022-23 and 2025-26. This included £17.7 billion for housing supply programmes, £3 billion for home ownership and £3 billion for building safety. This funding demonstrates the Government’s continued commitment to investing in safe and affordable housing, delivering the homes the country needs.

Derelict Land: Property Development

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much and what proportion of funding from the £400 million Brownfield Fund has been provided to the 7 Mayoral Combined authorities.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much and what proportion of funding has provided to each of the Mayoral Combined authorities through the Brownfield Fund.

Christopher Pincher: The £400 million Brownfield Fund will help unlock 26,000 homes by bringing under-utilised brownfield land back into use and contribute to levelling-up our country. Table 1 displays the allocation of the £400 million Brownfield Fund. Table 1 Mayoral Combined AuthorityAllocationProportionGreater Manchester£96,999,80524.25%Liverpool City Region£44,643,42011.16%North of Tyne£23,853,6185.96%South Yorkshire£40,340,32210.09%Tees Valley£19,352,3154.84%West Midlands£108,031,80227.01%West Yorkshire£66,778,71916.69%Total£400,000,001100.00%Total of £400,000,001 is due to rounding

Derelict Land: Regeneration

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to paragraph 4.49 of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, what methodology his Department used to forecast that the £1.8 billion funding for brownfield regeneration would create 160,000 homes.

Christopher Pincher: The £1.8 billion investment announced at Spending Review will help to regenerate communities and level up the country through unlocking new homes. The funding will deliver more than just homes, providing the investment in infrastructure required to regenerate communities and support local jobs.The Government and our local authority partners have extensive experience of brownfield development, through our existing funds such as the Brownfield Housing Fund and Brownfield Land Release Fund. I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave to question UIN 64643 on 1 November on the details of the Fund.

Right to Buy Scheme

Mark Jenkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to rollout the Voluntary Right to Buy Scheme nationally.

Christopher Pincher: This Government remains committed to the Right to Buy and to spreading the dream of home ownership to even more people. The Midlands pilot of the Voluntary Right to Buy scheme completed this year and an independent evaluation of the pilot was published in Feb 2021. The Government is looking at the evaluation's findings, which will be used to inform future policy, and we will announce further details on the Voluntary Right to Buy.

Garden Communities: Gilston and Harlow

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much funding the Government has provided to the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town project since it was announced.

Christopher Pincher: £3.6 million of a total allocation of £171.2 million in infrastructure funding, and £2.9 million in Garden Communities funding, has been provided to date to the appropriate local authorities for the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town project.

Woodhouse Colliery

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with the charity CDP on the proposed Whitehaven coal mine.

Christopher Pincher: Due to the quasi-judicial nature of his position, it would not be appropriate to comment on this application at the present time, as to do so might appear to prejudice the Secretary of State’s decision.

Housing: Devon and Rural Areas

Sir Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has been made of the potential impact on housing need in rural areas as a result of covid-19 related adjustments to working patterns; what discussions his Department has had with local authorities on the availability of housing in Devon; and what steps the Government is taking to help increase the supply of affordable homes for (a) homeownership and (b) the private and social rented sectors.

Christopher Pincher: The long-term impacts of COVID-19 are still unclear and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is actively monitoring and considering potential effects that the pandemic could have on our policies and programmes, including housing need.My officials and Homes England engage regularly with places across the country, including Devon, to support them to deliver the homes that their community needs, and would welcome any further discussions with authorities in your region.

Local Plans

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will list the local authorities which do not have an up-to-date local plan as at 27 October 2021; and by when each of those authorities is expected to have an up-to-date local plan in place.

Christopher Pincher: The National Planning Policy Framework states that policies in local plans and spatial development strategies should be reviewed to assess whether they need updating at least once every five years, and should then be updated as necessary. This is a legal requirement as set out in Regulation 10A of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.As of 27 October 2021,180 (53%) Local Planning Authorities have an adopted local plan (under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 ) that is over five years old; and 25 (7%) do not have an adopted local plan (under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004).In March 2020 Government set out a clear expectation that local planning authorities must have an up-to-date plan in place by the end of 2023. On 19 January 2021, a Written Ministerial Statement was made which set out the importance of maintaining progress to get up to date local plans in place by December 2023. The Written Ministerial Statement is available at: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2021-01-19/hcws720.

Planning

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of proposals in the Planning for the Future White Paper on the delivery of (a) local democracy in the planning system, (b) high-quality affordable homes and (c) protections for countryside and accessible green spaces.

Christopher Pincher: The Secretary of State is considering the best approach to taking forward our proposals for planning reform, as part of a wider review of the department's programmes. we are clear that the system should be accessible to communities, provide the well-designed homes our country needs and protect and improve our environment. We will make an announcement on next steps for the reforms, including more detail on the areas raised.

Civic Dignitaries: Safety

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with local government leaders on the safety of elected representatives when carrying out their democratic duties.

Kemi Badenoch: The Secretary of State recently attended a Local Government Forum where this issue was raised.To protect elected members' safety, the Government is reviewing proposals to remove the requirement to publish home addresses on registers of interests and has already changed the law to remove the requirement for people standing as local councillors to have their home addresses published on ballot papers.The LGA provides comprehensive guidance and advice for councillors on personal safety on their website and is considering developing a further training offer and bespoke advice.

Councillors: Disclosure of Information

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to undertake a review of the publication by default of the home addresses of councillors in England.

Kemi Badenoch: The Committee on Standards in Public Life published a report on Local Government Ethical Standards. One of their recommendations would ensure that councillors no longer need to publish their home address. We have been considering these recommendations carefully, and will respond in due course.

Local Government: Expenditure

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the projected real terms and cash increase is for local government spending in each of the next three years; and what the forecast increase in Council Tax is in each of those years.

Kemi Badenoch: The Spending Review for local government is set out in table 4.9 (page 108) of HMT's budget documentation. (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1028814/Budget_AB2021_Web_Accessible.pdf   Councils are responsible for setting their council tax levels. The Spending Review confirmed that it expected referendum principles for each of the three years to be a 2% core principle and 1% Adult Social Care precept. Details will be set out in the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement.

Non-domestic Rates: Tax Allowances

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the increase in Business Rates relief announced in the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 will impact local government funding.

Kemi Badenoch: The Government will compensate local authorities for loss of income as a result of business rate relief, following a well-established process. Relief awarded in line with the eligibility criteria, which will be set out in guidance, will not therefore impact on local government funding.

Local Government: Equality and Racial Discrimination

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what support he plans to provide to councils that have agreed to make their city anti-racist and inclusive to advance their work on anti-racism and inclusivity.

Kemi Badenoch: The UK Government welcomes proactive work which tackles not only racism but all forms of discrimination. Local leaders should decide how best to take this forward in their communities, and in a way which complies with the Equality Act and The Seven Principles of Public Life.We encourage local authorities to build on and strengthen a shared local and national identity across class, colour and creed and ensure all activities provide value for money for council taxpayers.

Cabinet Office

Protective Clothing: Complaints

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many complaints his Department has received from companies complaining that they were unable to get the attention of officials with respect to the supply personal protective equipment from February 2020 to August 2020; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Ellis: We rapidly processed over 24,000 offers of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from over 15,000 suppliers who approached the National PPE Sourcing team via the online portals the Government established in March 2020. The webform ensured that offers of support were recorded effectively and taken forward as necessary.Offers were triaged and those which could potentially deliver significant quantities of high-quality PPE quickly were prioritised. All offers then went into exactly the same Technical Assurance, Closing (i.e. contract negotiation) and Procurement (i.e. contract award) process, managed by officials. This process led to the award of 339 contracts by the Department of Health and Social Care. A high number of offers were rejected at different stages of being taken through this process for different reasons.

Cabinet Office: Stonewall

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason his Department has withdrawn from Stonewalls' Diversity Champions programme.

Michael Ellis: Cabinet Office ceased its Stonewall membership in 2020 on the grounds of delivering value for the taxpayer.

Civil Servants: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to announce the location of the northern government hub; and what recent assessment he has made of York as the location of that hub.

Michael Ellis: The Government Property Agency (GPA) has been considering York Central as a possible location given its proximity to the station and government ownership by Homes England and Network Rail. There will be a formal announcement of location once all available options have been considered and a commercial deal agreed.

Treasury

Fossil Fuels: Carbon Emissions

Helen Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to recoup the costs of net zero from fossil-fuel intensive corporations.

Lucy Frazer: The Government is already committed to maintaining an ambitious carbon price to ensure that polluters continue to pay for their emissions. The UK has two main carbon pricing policies - the Carbon Price Support (CPS) and the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Revenues from carbon pricing support government priorities including meeting our net zero targets. The CPS rate is a tax on fossil fuels used in electricity generation. CPS ensures that a strong decarbonisation signal is maintained to ensure a downwards trajectory in power sector emissions as we push to fully drive out coal. The ETS applies a carbon price to businesses in power generation, heavy industry and aviation. The ETS will be the world’s first net zero cap and trade market, delivering a robust carbon price signal and promoting cost-effective decarbonisation by allowing businesses to cut carbon where it is cheapest to do so. We are taking the opportunity to develop a scheme with greater ambition; for example, by reducing the cap on emissions allowances by 5% from the UK’s expected share of the EU ETS cap. We will also be consulting on setting a net zero consistent cap trajectory. The UK has also committed to exploring expanding the UK ETS to other sectors. At the same time as using carbon pricing to ensure firms face a cost for the carbon they emit, we are also supporting firms and households; with £1.8 billion to support tens of thousands of low-income households to make the transition to net zero while reducing their energy bills.

Business: Coronavirus

Mrs Flick Drummond: What steps his Department is taking to help the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors recover from the covid-19 pandemic.

Richard Thomson: What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Scotland on the level of VAT applied to hospitality businesses.

Lucy Frazer: This Government has provided around £400 billion of direct support to the economy during the pandemic, and as part of that it has provided £16 billion of business rates relief to the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in England. At Autumn Budget 21, the Government announced a new temporary relief worth almost £1.7 billion for these sectors to support local high streets as they adapt and recover. At Spring Budget 21, the Government extended the 5% temporary reduced rate of VAT for the tourism and hospitality sectors until the end of September. On 1 October 2021, a new reduced rate of VAT at 12.5% was introduced to help ease businesses back to the standard rate. This rate will end on 31 March 2022. There are no plans to extend the length of this relief again.

Tax Avoidance

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the amount of revenue that will be raised from the Loan Charge.

Lucy Frazer: The Loan Charge was announced at Budget 2016 as part of a package of measures to tackle Disguised Remuneration tax avoidance. The forecast was last revised at Spring Budget 2021, with the latest estimated overall Exchequer yield of £3.3 billion for the entire package, which includes an element of Loan Charge. In September 2019, the Government commissioned an Independent Review into the Loan Charge, led by Sir Amyas Morse. The changes to the Loan Charge following the independent review were estimated to reduce the yield forecast through Loan Charge. At Budget 2020, the changes were costed as a separate measure, with an estimated reduction to the Exchequer yield of £745 million.

Customs

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he made of the number of annual customs checks that will be conducted for (a) exports from Great Britain to the EU and (b) imports from Great Britain to the EU once full border controls have been implemented.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of annual checks associated with safety and security measures that will be conducted for (a) exports from Great Britain to the EU and (b) imports from Great Britain to the EU once full border controls have been implemented.

Lucy Frazer: As the customs authority, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will act to ensure that border processes are as smooth as possible, without compromising security. HMRC will continue to use a risk-based, intelligence-led approach to customs and safety and security checks working alongside Border Force. Since checks are conducted based on risk, volumes are not guaranteed. The management of EU import procedures is the responsibility of the customs authorities of the relevant EU Member States.

Tonnage Tax

Ian Mearns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether trade unions organising seafarer ratings and officers will be consulted over the changes to the Tonnage Tax outlined in paragraphs 2.175 to 2.177 of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, HC 822.

Helen Whately: At Autumn Budget 2021, the Chancellor announced that the Government will introduce a package of measures to reform the UK’s Tonnage Tax regime, which will come into force from April 2022. These reforms aim to see more firms basing their headquarters in the UK, using the UK’s world-leading maritime services industry, and flying the UK flag.The Government and industry will continue to work collaboratively on the training commitment, which supports the training of hundreds of new, skilled cadets every year. This will include engagement with stakeholders in trade unions and industry. The Government will also review whether to include ship management within scope of the Tonnage Tax regime, and whether the existing limit that can be claimed in capital allowances by organisations leasing ships to Tonnage Tax participants remains appropriate. Relevant stakeholders will be consulted throughout this review.

Treasury: Darlington

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) Treasury and (b) non-Treasury civil servants were physically present and working in the Economic Campus in Darlington on (i) Monday, (ii) Tuesday, (iii) Wednesday, (iv) Thursday and (v) Friday in the week commencing 11 October 2021 in which the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury was working in that campus.

Helen Whately: All HMT offices are open and available for use by HMT staff. We are not able to share separate breakdowns by location and do not hold information on non-HMT staff use of the Darlington economic campus.

Beer: Excise Duties

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the criteria for the duty relief on draught beer, to include craft and micro breweries which distribute products to licensed premises in containers smaller than 40 litres.

Helen Whately: The Treasury welcomes views from industry on the qualifying criteria for the duty relief on draught beer. We will discuss this further with industry groups as part of our alcohol duty review consultation process.

Sharing Economy: Coronavirus

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to support the parts of the gig economy which have experienced economic downturn during covid-19 lockdown and which have not benefitted from Government covid-19 financial support during covid-19 lockdown.

Helen Whately: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government provided unprecedented support to protect jobs and businesses. For example, some gig workers who are self-employed may have benefited from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), designed to support the incomes of self-employed individuals who were temporarily unable to carry out their business or were impacted by reduced demand due to COVID-19, leading to a significant reduction in profits. Government action has helped to lay the foundations for an economic recovery, and this plan is working: the UK has seen faster-than-anticipated growth, and a strong recovery in jobs across the country. The recent Budget and Spending Review builds on this, by taking action to help businesses - including those in the gig economy - to recover, invest, grow and create jobs. The Government is also taking steps to support families and working people, many of which will benefit those individuals who work in the gig economy. Gig workers who claim Universal Credit will benefit from the reduced taper rate, which will help to make work pay; and from the Government’s new £99 million In-Work Progression offer, which will mean more people in work on Universal Credit will be able to access individualised work coach support to help them progress and increase their earnings. Alongside individuals across the economy, gig economy workers should also benefit from investment in skills, announced at Spending Review 2021, which will give adults more opportunities to upskill and retrain to improve access to higher paid jobs. This includes continuing to offer free Level 3 courses in high value subjects, quadrupling the scale of Skills Bootcamps in growing sectors, and a brand new scheme to boost adult numeracy - Multiply. Improving numeracy can boost earnings by up to 14%.

Treasury: Stonewall

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what funding his Department has allocated to Stonewall in each of the last five years; and to what projects that funding was allocated.

Helen Whately: The Treasury has not allocated any project funding to Stonewall over the past five years.

Financial Services: Crime

Sam Tarry: What steps he plans to take in response to the publication of the Pandora Papers to tackle (a) tax avoidance, (b) money laundering and (c) other financial crimes.

John Glen: This government is committed to making the UK a hostile place for illicit finance and economic crime. We are determined to crack down on dirty money and financial exploitation, to protect our security and prosperity. We have taken action through our ‘No Safe Havens’ strategy to ensure the correct UK tax is paid; and our landmark 2019 Economic Crime Plan outlines a comprehensive response to ensure the UK cannot be abused for economic crime.

Freeports

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph A.29 of the Office for Budget Responsibility's report on the Economic and Fiscal Outlook, published in October 2021, what assessment he has made of validity of the assumption used in that report that the effect of freeports will be to alter the location rather than the volume of economic activity.

Mr Simon Clarke: Our focus has been to encourage new investment to create new businesses and new economic activity. When designating Freeports we required bidders to explain how their choice of tax site locations minimises displacement of economic activity from wider local areas, especially other economically disadvantaged areas. The OBR recognised this in their Economic and Fiscal Outlook. As announced at the Budget, the first Freeport tax sites will be designated on 19 November. We are already seeing positive evidence of new investment at Freeports. For example, DP World announced an investment of £300 million to support Thames Freeport, while GE Renewable Energy plans to bring their new blade manufacturing plant to Teesport and Siemens Gamesa are investing £186m in expanding their offshore blade manufacturing plant in Hull. There will be a monitoring and evaluation programme to ensure that Freeports deliver on their objectives and present good value for money.

Families: Government Assistance

Robert Halfon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support families through winter 2021-22.

Mr Simon Clarke: The Government is committed to supporting families this winter, helping them to meet the cost of living, and ensuring that work continues to pay. Over the winter, the £500 million Household Support Fund will help vulnerable households with the cost of essentials such as food, clothing and utilities. £421 million of the fund will be distributed through local authorities in England, who are best placed to ensure it reaches those who need it most. This fund builds on the Warm Home Discount, which provides a £140 rebate to help 2.2 million low income households with their energy bills, and the government energy price cap, which has protected around 15 million households on default tariffs, saving them up to £100 a year since 2019. To further support low income families, we have provided £670m for local authorities to support households struggling with their council tax bills, £140m for Discretionary Housing Payments, and over £200m a year to continue the Holiday Activities and Food Programme. We have also maintained the increase in cash terms to the Local Housing Allowance rates for UC and Housing Benefit claimants in 2021-22. Alongside these measures we are maintaining our focus on helping people back into work. Work is the best route out of poverty. As a child growing up in a home where all the adults work is around five times less likely to be in poverty than a child growing up in a home where nobody works (before housing costs). As part of the comprehensive Plan for Jobs, the Government announced the Kickstart scheme which has so far created nearly 95,000 jobs for young people at risk of becoming long-term unemployed, and the three year Restart scheme, which provides intensive and tailored support to long-term unemployed Universal Credit claimants across England and Wales.

Mortgages: Tax Allowances

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing legislative proposals to withdraw mortgage tax relief from people with holiday lets to encourage property owners to make homes available for local people.

John Glen: Tax relief on mortgage interest is available for landlords renting properties both as longer-term tenancies and as furnished holiday lets. Tax relief on mortgage interest on properties rented as longer-term tenancies is available at the basic rate of income tax; we estimate that only 1 in 10 landlords are affected by this restriction introduced in 2017 and phased in over four years. The Government keeps all taxes under review.

Holiday Accommodation: Tax Allowances

Kate Osamor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to take steps to remove the holiday let tax exemption that allows landlords to lower their mortgage interest payments by using properties for holiday lets rather than longer-term tenancies.

John Glen: Tax relief on mortgage interest is available for landlords renting properties both as longer-term tenancies and as furnished holiday lets. Tax relief on mortgage interest on properties rented as longer-term tenancies is available at the basic rate of income tax; we estimate that only 1 in 10 landlords are affected by this restriction introduced in 2017 and phased in over four years. The Government keeps all taxes under review.

Exports: Customs

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of annual export summary declarations and entry summary declarations that will be required for (a) exports from Great Britain to the EU and (b) imports from Great Britain to the EU once full border controls have been implemented.

Lucy Frazer: In general, safety and security requirements for exports are met using data included on customs export declarations. A safety and security exit summary declaration is only required under specific circumstances where a customs export declaration has not been submitted, including:Empty containers, pallets or vehicles being moved under a transport contract;Goods that have been in temporary storage for more than 14 days, or where import safety and security details are unknown or have changed since entering temporary storage;Goods moved under transit where there is no full customs export declaration. The management of EU import procedures is the responsibility of the customs authorities of the relevant EU Member States.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Hilary Benn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to extend the stamp duty land tax holiday to people who have been unable to sell their flats as a result of unsafe cladding.

Lucy Frazer: The temporary Stamp Duty Land Tax relief concluded on 30 September 2021. The Government does not currently have any plans to reintroduce the relief for properties with fire safety concerns. The temporary relief was designed to create immediate momentum in the property market, in turn supporting jobs which rely on custom from the property industry, such as retailers and tradespeople. The Government is investing over £5 billion in building safety, including an additional £3.5 billion announced in February by the Housing Secretary for the remediation of unsafe cladding for all leaseholders in high rise residential buildings.

Remote Working: Tax Allowances

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to coronavirus home-working tax relief, for what reason volunteers for charitable organisations that are office holders are treated differently from those volunteers who are not.

Lucy Frazer: Neither volunteers nor voluntary office holders pay tax on out-of-pocket expenses reimbursed by the organisation, providing the amount reimbursed is no more than the additional expenditure incurred. This includes expenses for additional household costs if they have had to work at home, including if they have had to work at home because of Coronavirus. Tax will be due on any allowances received which exceed expenditure. Neither voluntary office holders nor volunteers can claim tax relief from HMRC for additional costs related to their volunteering as they have no earnings against which the relief could be set. Following a legislative change in April 2020, voluntary office holders are classed as employees to ensure that no liability to Income Tax arises in respect of a payment to a person who holds a voluntary office, if the payment is in respect of reasonable expenses incurred when carrying out the duties of that office. This change ensured the tax treatment of their private expenses, such as travel between home and the place the work is done, is comparable to those of volunteers. Employers can reimburse employees, including voluntary office holders, for homeworking expenses under Section 316A of ITEPA03 which allows exempt payments to be made in a wider set of circumstances, including where there is a voluntary homeworking scheme. However, where volunteers must work at home because of Coronavirus, it is advisable for the volunteer organisation to determine the appropriate rates of reimbursement, ensuring such payments do not give rise to a profit.

SME Brexit Support Fund

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was distributed from the £20 million SME Brexit Support Fund before that fund’s closure on the 30 June 2021.

Lucy Frazer: As of 26 October 2021, there has been a total of 4,268 payments made to 4,163 unique businesses, amounting to £6,682,367.

SME Brexit Support Fund

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many SMEs applied for funding through the SME Brexit Support Fund before that fund’s closure on the 30 June 2021.

Lucy Frazer: As of 26 October 2021, 11,138 SMEs expressed an interest in applying for funding through the SME Brexit Support Fund, and 5088 grant offers were made. There were 6050 applications that did not progress to the grant offer stage. This was for a variety of reasons, primarily that 4461 did not finalise their applications. The remaining 1589 applications were not offered grants as they did not meet the eligibility criteria.

Property Development: Taxation

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, whether the money being raised through the residential property developer tax will be additional to the £5 billion previously announced for the Building Safety Fund.

Lucy Frazer: The Residential Property Developer Tax will raise at least £2 billion over the next decade. This will help to fund the £5 billion package of funding that was announced in February 2021 for the removal of unsafe cladding from the highest risk buildings.

Heat Pumps: VAT

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the rate is of VAT on air source heat pumps.

Lucy Frazer: The UK currently applies a reduced rate of 5 per cent to the installation of air source heat pumps in residential accommodation. Further information can be found in the public notice VAT 708/6 on energy-saving materials and heating equipment: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-on-energy-saving-materials-and-heating-equipment-notice-7086

Buildings: VAT Exemptions

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to equalise the zero rate of VAT on new build construction with remediation costs faced by leaseholders in unsafe buildings.

Lucy Frazer: The Government currently maintains a zero rate of VAT on the construction of new build residential homes. Remediation work may also qualify for a zero rate as ‘snagging’. This applies when the remediation work forms part of the original construction and the person requesting the remediation work is either the owner, developer, or contractor during the original construction works. Otherwise, remediation work falls under repair and maintenance and attracts the standard rate of VAT. Going further would come at a cost to the Exchequer. Given this, the Government has no current plans to change the VAT treatment of construction.

Tax Avoidance

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to announce a further review of the Loan Charge.

Lucy Frazer: A comprehensive independent review of the Loan Charge has already taken place. In September 2019, the Government commissioned Lord Morse to lead this Review.Lord Morse’s report was published in December 2019 and concluded that it was right for the Government to collect the tax due, but also recommended changes to how the Loan Charge works.The Government accepted all but one of the Review’s 20 recommendations, which is estimated to benefit over 30,000 individuals, removing 11,000 from the Loan Charge entirely.These changes have improved how the Loan Charge operates, which ensures that individuals pay the right amount of tax and ensures fairness for all taxpayers and the wider public.

Tax Avoidance: Repayments

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people seeking refunds of Loan Charge payments under the changes adopted following the Morse Review have been (a) successful and (b) refused.

Lucy Frazer: Following Lord Morse’s Independent Loan Charge Review, the Government introduced legislation requiring HMRC to establish a scheme to repay relevant Voluntary Restitution elements of disguised remuneration settlements. These amounts were voluntary payments that taxpayers had agreed to make as part of settlements concluded before changes were made to the scope of the Loan Charge. Individuals and employers had until 30 September 2021 to apply to HMRC for a refund or waiver. HMRC repays amounts that were paid in disguised remuneration scheme settlements, and/or waives amounts of instalments due that have not yet been paid if certain conditions are met. By 18 October 2021, HMRC had processed approximately 940 applications, of which approximately 740 had received either a repayment, a waiver, or both. Approximately 200 of the applications processed at that date were either invalid or ineligible.

Revenue and Customs: Fraud

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding has been allocated to HMRC to enforce breaches of (a) national minimum wage, (b) coronavirus job retention scheme payments in Budget 2021 compared to (i) the last financial year and (ii) the next three years.

Lucy Frazer: All businesses are responsible for paying the correct minimum wage to their staff. Since 2015-16, the Government has more than doubled the budget for compliance and enforcement of the national minimum wage, rising to £27.5 million for 2021-22. The compliance and enforcement budgets for future financial years will be confirmed in due course. At Spring Budget 2021, the Government announced the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce to expand HMRC’s enforcement activities and tackle non-compliance across the COVID-19 support initiatives.  For 2021-22, the Taskforce received £27 million to undertake additional enforcement activity, rising to £55 million for 2022-23.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Gambling: Registration

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Gambling Commission is planning to create a national register of gamblers.

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of whether the establishment of a national register of gamblers that contains the personal and financial details of members of the public should be debated in the House.

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of whether the introduction of a national register of gamblers is a proportionate response to the level of problem gambling.

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the (a) risk to personal data and (b) implications for privacy of the establishment of a national register of gamblers.

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has received correspondence from the Gambling Commission on a national register of gamblers.

Chris Philp: In October 2019, the Gambling Commission issued a challenge to the gambling industry to develop a workable ‘Single Customer View’ solution. The Single Customer View aims to facilitate data sharing between operators so that harm prevention efforts can be improved by measures which prevent disordered gamblers moving to another operator when one intervenes. As set out in its statement of 7 October, the Commission has no plans to mandate a particular single customer view solution at this stage. The next step is for industry to develop and test potential options.The Gambling Commission has worked closely with the Information Commissioner’s Office to understand how a single customer view can be delivered in compliance with all relevant data protection requirements. The Information Commissioner’s Office recently published a report confirming it should be possible under data protection law for data to be shared safely and securely between online operators to help prevent gambling related harm. However, the report does not comment on how any single customer view should work in practice. We expect the industry to proceed to trial its planned single customer view solution and will continue to monitor developments closely.The government is reviewing the Gambling Act 2005 to make sure it is fit for the digital age. Our call for evidence included questions on how the consumer data collected by operators could be better deployed and used to support the government’s objectives. We are considering the evidence carefully and aim to publish a white paper outlining any conclusions and proposals for reform in due course.

Databases: Environmental Protection

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has plans to promote knowledge on the environmental impact of storing unnecessary data.

Julia Lopez: As outlined in the National Data Strategy, better data use and data-driven innovation will be vital to solving some of today’s biggest challenges, including the UK’s transition to Net Zero through driving emissions reductions across sectors. At the same time as seizing this opportunity we know that we must remain vigilant to the environmental consequences of increased data use.Through the National Data Strategy Forum workstream on Net Zero, we will continue to highlight the environmental impact of data use as well as champion how the better use of data can support our Net Zero ambitions.

Databases: Carbon Emissions

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the carbon cost of storing data online.

Julia Lopez: As outlined in the National Data Strategy, better data use and data-driven innovation will be vital to solving some of today’s biggest challenges, including the UK’s transition to Net Zero through driving emissions reductions across sectors. At the same time as seizing this opportunity we know that we must remain vigilant to the environmental consequences of increased data use.Data centres are acknowledged as one of many contributing factors to ICT emissions, along with TV, Networks, and User Devices, although experts disagree over the sector’s precise contribution. To this end, as part of the National Data Strategy Forum, I recently hosted a roundtable with data centre providers to understand the steps they are taking to reduce their carbon emissions including through the commitments outlined in the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pledge.

Television Licences: Hearing Impairment

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of extending discounted TV licences to deaf people.

Julia Lopez: Under the Communications (Television Licensing) Regulations 2004, TV Licence concessions are available to people who are registered blind or severely sight impaired, people who live in qualifying residential care and are disabled or over 60 years old.There are no further concessions available for people with severe hearing impairment and we are not considering making changes to the current concessions regime at this time.The government has made clear that the TV Licence model will be reconsidered again ahead of the next Charter Review, which is set to be completed by 2027.

Internet: Safety

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, which funding stream is providing the £110 million announced for the Government's online safety regime; if she will provide a breakdown of how that funding will be allocated; and whether the providers of the regulated services will cover the regulatory costs.

Chris Philp: We have achieved a positive outcome through this Spending Review, securing continued funding across Online Safety and delivering on the government’s commitment to make the UK the safest place to be online.Through Spending Review 2021, over £110m has been allocated to the implementation of the Online Safety regime. This will deliver the Online Safety Bill and a regulator (Ofcom) for the new regulatory framework which the Bill will establish; along with a package of innovative online safety implementation measures which are required to implement the legislation, and create the conditions for the legislation to be effective.Whilst DCMS’ activities will be funded through the departmental Resource Departmental Expenditure Limits (RDEL) budget, the funding for Ofcom will be through the retention of Wireless Telegraphy Act (WTA) receipts. Section 401 of the Communications Act 2003 allows Ofcom to retain WTA receipts to meet certain costs which it cannot otherwise recover through imposing fees and charges to industry.Once the Online Safety regime is operational, Ofcom will be industry funded and therefore cost neutral to the government. Ofcom will be given powers to charge an annual fee to in scope platforms which meet a financial threshold. The fees will be differentiated and will be levied proportionately in order to recoup Ofcom’s annual operating costs.Under the draft Online Safety Bill, once the funding regime for Ofcom goes live, certain set up costs can be recouped through the industry fees.

Football Index: Compensation

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to financially redress people who lost money with the collapse of the Football Index.

Chris Philp: The government appreciates the significant impact that the collapse of the novel gambling product Football Index had on former customers. Administration proceedings for BetIndex, the company which operated Football Index, are continuing. These are looking at the assets and liabilities of the operator and what is owed to customers. It is likely that this process will result in some amounts being reimbursed to creditors.

COP26

Mining: Chile

Owen Thompson: To ask the President of COP26, if he will raise in discussions with the President of Chile, during the COP26 visit, the potential environmental effect of the President's financial involvement in the Dominga mining project.

Michael Ellis: The UK and Chile regularly discuss environmental issues. The UK has been pressing all leaders through a programme of regular engagement and events to commit to ambitious climate action to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

UN Climate Conference 2021: Ethnic Groups

Stuart Anderson: To ask the President of COP26, what steps have been taken to help ensure that people from ethnic minority backgrounds are represented at COP26.

Michael Ellis: We want a broad range of diverse voices at COP26. This includes Indigenous Peoples, women, people with disabilities, youth, older persons, faith and frontline groups. This is to amplify and learn from those most affected by climate change and to inspire increased climate ambition.In line with the UK’s commitment to inclusivity, we are determined to ensure Glasgow is as inclusive as possible - despite the challenges presented by COVID-19. Through our diverse programme of events, as well as the efforts we have put into getting delegates to Glasgow, all participants will be able to benefit from the very best in climate leadership. To facilitate participation:We offered free vaccinations to those from other countries who could not otherwise access them.We provided free visas to registered attendees with UNFCCC accreditation.We funded the required Managed Quarantine for delegates coming from ‘red list’ countries.We also worked with transit countries for Pacific Small Island Development States (SIDs) to identify solutions to overcome barriers to travel.

Climate Change: International Cooperation

Helen Hayes: To ask the President of COP26, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on rates of international decarbonisation of the China's potential non-attendance at COP26; and what steps he is taking to ensure global agreement on action to prevent global warming beyond 1.5C.

Michael Ellis: COP26 comes at a critical moment for the future of our planet. As hosts of COP26, we are encouraging high-level participation in COP26 from all parties. To date over 120 leaders have confirmed their attendance. In our capacity as COP26 President, the UK looks forward to working closely with all parties, including China, to bring key negotiating issues to a constructive conclusion at COP26. This includes securing ambitious announcements to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.Under the Paris Agreement, all parties committed to holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, recognising that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change. As the incoming COP President, the UK has been pressing all leaders to commit to ambitious climate action ahead of COP26 through a programme of regular engagement and events, including through the Climate Ambition Summit, the G7 and G20.

Women and Equalities

Minister for Women and Equalities: Black History Month

Ruth Jones: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how her Department has marked Black History Month 2021.

Kemi Badenoch: This year, the Government marked Black History Month with the #TransformingToday campaign. Throughout the month, the Cabinet Office has coordinated the government-wide campaign, #TransformingToday, which has celebrated Black British talent, trailblazers and pioneers. There has been a particular focus on our Covid heroes. As Minister of State for Equalities I wrote an opinion piece for Black History Month Magazine and took part in an interview with Sky News’ Trevor Phillips on the topic of Black History Month.There have been numerous central events including a No10 reception celebrating the success of Black interns, entrepreneurs and others, attended by the Prime Minister. There was also an event highlighting service with school pupils from three schools and Victoria Cross recipient Johnson Beharry; as well as other events in skills and digital helping to support Black people in their ambitions.